Adobe updated Lightroom to natively support Windows 10 on ARM and Apple’s M1 chips. This means that the program will now take advantage of the platforms, including their power and efficiency improvements.
Rather than being launched as a beta version, it is debuting as a full release and Adobe is making it a part of the regular Creative Suite installer. 
Adobe releases optimized version of Lightroom for Windows 10 and Apple’s M1
While this native ARM build is the new version of Lightroom, if someone is a fan of the classic Lightroom then they will need to wait a little bit longer for Adobe to ship it. Sharad Mangalick, a program manager on the photography team at Adobe said:
Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Adobe Camera Raw have all been tested and certified to work well with Apple Rosetta emulation as we work on Apple M1 native versions of these apps. We intend to ship Apple M1 native versions as soon as they are ready, so stay tuned!
We also shipped an Apple M1 and Windows Arm native version of Photoshop as a beta app in November. You’ll find the Photoshop beta available directly inside the Creative Cloud desktop app.
Support for Windows 10 on ARM devices means that owners of devices like Surface Pro X can now use Lightroom as a native app. Running natively means that users do not have to deal with emulation to use Lightroom, which should result in the best performance and battery efficiency. Although Rosetta 2 x86 emulation works well on Apple hardware, and Windows 10 on ARM can emulate 32-bit apps, a native application is always going to be better than the one running through emulation.
In addition to native support for Windows 10 on ARM and Apple’s M1 chips, Adobe also released updates for iPadOS, ChromeOS, Maca, Android, Lightroom Classic, Camera Raw, Lightroom for Windows, and iOS. Below are some of the changes in those updates:
ProRAW format support. You’ll be able to import and edit images taken in the Apple ProRAW format in the December updates to Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, or Lightroom (desktop, iOS, Android, lightroom.adobe.com). ProRAW is built using the Adobe DNG file format and specification.
New Lightroom widgets for iOS14. Quickly take photos and selfies using the Lightroom camera, explore Discover Edits and In-app tutorials from the Widgets screen. You can even drag these onto the Home screen for easier access. (Lightroom iOS only, requires iOS14 and later)
The free Lightroom Starter plan is now available for Lightroom desktop (Mac and Win). Available only in Australia and New Zealand, new customers can start for free and use core Lightroom features, such as the Sensei-based Auto or the Light and Color editing sliders, without a subscription or trial limits.
Adobe says it will continue to optimize for Windows ARM and Apple Silicon in future releases while also supporting Intel-based systems. Camera Raw, Photoshop, and Lightroom Classic will be updated as soon as they are ready. Till then, there is a beta version of Photoshop available for Apple Silicon.
Read More:
2 comments