No Option To Download Lightroom on the Creative Cloud Desktop App for Mac

[Sarp29577668xadv]

Hi,

I recently bought the photography package for my macbook pro that runs on OS X El Capitan. I want to download a compatible version of Lightroom Classic CC, yet on the Creative Cloud desktop application there is no option to download the Lightroom apps. They simply don't show up. The only option it gives me is to use Lightroom Web. I can still download an older version of Photoshop, yet the Lightroom apps simply aren't present in the list of Creative Cloud applications. Anyone know why this is the case? Is this a bug?

Thanks.

[Ian Lyons · Accepted solution]

Lightroom Classic 12.x needs macOS 11 (Big Sur) (see minimum requirements below.

Lightroom Classic 11.x, which is the only alternative to 12.x currently available in the Creative Cloud App needs macOS Catalina. Therefore, you'll need to upgrade the macOS, replace your computer or request a refund.

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/lightroom-classic/system-requirements.html

[Sarp29577668xadv]

Thank you very much for your reply. Is it the same case with Lightroom CC? Is Lightroom Web the only Lightroom app available to me? If so, do you know whether Lightroom Web decreases the quality of the image? Does it let me download only a watered down version of the image compared to other Lightroom apps?

[Conrad_C]

Lightroom Web is a lot like the versions of Lightroom for phone/tablet. It will import and edit photos at full original quality, including raw files.

The main disadvantage of the web version is that it has the fewest features of any form of Lightroom. For example, it has some mask types, but not all of the types available on phone, tablet, and desktop.

So you can certainly use Lightroom for Web to organize and edit photos, but it is just not going to be the same as being able to use the full desktop versions of cloud Lightroom or Lightroom Classic. Also, it is unclear to me whether the versions of web browsers available in macOS 10.11 have all of the web technologies that Lightroom for Web needs.

[Rob_Cullen]

Agree with @Ian Lyons  "upgrade the macOS, replace your computer or request a refund."

TBMK El Capitan will only support Classic v7 or Version 6 (aka CC2015).

You might get Classic v7 by asking Adobe nicely, but IMO not worth the effort.

Even Lr-Web will be of little use to you unless you are using and importing photos from Lightroom on mobile devices (iPhone, iPad). Your system will not run Lightroom-Desktop.

[Sarp29577668xadv]

What do you mean by saying "even Lr-Web will be of little use to you unless you are using and importing photos from Lightroom on mobile devices"? I'm using Lightroom Web as an alternative to Lightroom. Is this a bad idea?

[Conrad_C · Accepted solution]

Just so you know for future planning, what you are seeing is not a bug, but policy. In the last few years, things have tightened up. Apple now supports and provides updates for only the last three major versions of macOS, which are currently macOS 11, 12, and 13. Adobe tends to follow the same macOS support as Apple now. At the same time, the Creative Cloud app generally provides installation for only the last two versions of its apps. So the only versions of Lightroom Classic available for installation are 11 and 12, and the earliest version of macOS that Lightroom Classic 11 supports is macOS 10.15 Catalina.

The last thing that’s very important to keep in mind is that every fall both Apple and and Adobe release new major versions, so every fall the oldest supported version is dropped. Going forward, system requirements will advance by one major version of macOS every year. Because of that, if you need to keep using the latest versions of Creative Cloud apps, you will need to start budgeting to buy a new Mac not long after the year Apple announces a new version of macOS that won’t install on your current Mac. That usually happens about 7 to 8 years after a Mac model is first released.

[DdeGannes]

Agreed with all @Conrad_C , has stated I am using macOS 11 Big Sur and most likely I will not be able to upgrade to LrC 13.

For the last few months I have checking my best options upgrade my Mac Hardware or return to Windows which I used from the mid 1980 to mid 2015.

[Rob_Cullen]

"What do you mean by saying "even Lr-Web will be of little use""

Well I suggest it would be the one and only 'online' app you could run on PC or Mac computers (in a browser window).

You cannot install Lightroom-Classic, or Lightroom-Desktop, so you are limited in the use of the Adobe Cloud.

Yes Lr-Web will import and edit your photos (to the Cloud - not locally!). I guess if you are satisfied with those restrictions then continue with the subscription plan.