Adobe is set to end support for Intel-based Macs in its key video and audio applications, signalling a complete transition to Apple Silicon and marking a significant shift in software compatibility and performance on Mac devices.
Adobe is preparing to end support for Intel-based Macs across several of its core video and audio tools, with Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition and Media Encoder set to require Apple Silicon from version 27. According to the company’s forum post, as relayed by Heise, the change is expected in the coming months and will mark the first major release in which those applications run only on Apple’s ARM-based hardware.
For users still on older Mac Intel machines, the practical effect will be slower attrition rather than an abrupt cut-off. Existing versions of Creative Cloud should continue to open, but those systems will no longer receive the next wave of feature updates. Adobe’s own support pages already show the direction of travel: After Effects has native Apple Silicon support, while Rosetta-based emulation has been progressively de-emphasised as the company pushes users towards fully native builds.
That shift also fits Apple’s broader plan to retire its translation layer. Apple says Rosetta lets Intel apps run on Apple Silicon Macs, but it is intended as a transition tool rather than a permanent compatibility solution. Reports from MacRumors earlier this year said Apple planned to warn users more explicitly before Rosetta 2 is phased out in macOS 27, underlining the pressure on developers to move their software to Apple Silicon before support disappears.
Adobe’s own earlier optimisation work makes the change less surprising. MacRumors reported in 2021 and 2022 that native Apple Silicon versions of Premiere Pro and After Effects delivered substantial performance gains over Intel-era builds, including faster rendering and smoother operation on M1 Macs. The latest move therefore looks less like a new technical direction than the completion of a migration Adobe started years ago, even if it leaves a last group of Intel Mac users with fewer upgrade options.
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