Adobe has published a preliminary version of Photoshop for ARM Macs. Owners of the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro or Mac mini models with the M1 SoC can now download and install them using Adobe’s Creative Cloud administration tool. Of course, the beta only appears on ARM Macs with macOS Big Sur; If it is not displayed on these computers, you can manually check for updates. If that still doesn’t help, you have to log out of your Creative Cloud account in the desktop application and log back in.

Early version, so watch out Adobe emphasizes that this is an “early version”. However, this offers “many of the Photoshop core functions” and more will be added in the coming weeks. Photoshop for Mac will not be officially finished until next year – at least that’s what Adobe announced. The beta is not yet “fully functional”, according to the manufacturer.

What is missing or not possible There is a lack of camera RAW support, various AI functions such as the replacement of the sky, “Refine Hair” and the “Liquify” filter with face recognition. All CEP-based panels from Adobe and third-party manufacturers do not work because Adobe is moving to UXP here. Furthermore, popular features such as focus area, content-aware features (filling, scaling, moving) as well as photomerge, spot healing and the patch tool are not available. Adobe even leaves out the healing brush. Other functions are limited, such as the 3D features. In addition, some functions on M1 machines are still “slow”, such as selecting a subject or selecting an object.

Intel version not officially supported If you need all Photoshop functions on your ARM Mac, you have no real alternative: Adobe supports the use of the Intel Version via Apple’s translation routine Rosetta 2 not official. This is also not planned; it can work accordingly, but does not have to. What should already work quite well is the use of the Intel version of Lightroom Classic 10 under Rosetta 2. Adobe does not yet know any occurring problems, but also does not want to guarantee official support.

The Mac is making the next big change in processor architecture. Instead of Intel processors, Apple has been using its own ARM-based SoCs (System on a Chip) since the end 2020, starting with the M1. The change had been evident for a long time.

(bsc)