Creative Cloud on Apple Silicon: A Bumpy Ride

I'm not looking forward to getting into a debate about this, as it's just my personal experience with Creative Cloud (CC) in the past and how problems were resolved. However, I've noticed some concerning trends when using CC apps on my wife's Mac Mini running Apple Silicon.

When I log in via SSH and run 'top,' I see constant crash reports being written when the system is lagging. Interestingly, there are no crash reports in Console except when the app itself quits. My wife's Mac Mini has been experiencing constant lags of up to 30 seconds, which sometimes clear, sometimes result in an app quitting, or other times cause a kernel panic.

I'm not alone in this experience. In the past, when companies released Universal versions of their apps during the transition from Intel processors, many of them just crashed or caused system lags/lockups, ultimately leading to kernel panics. It's disheartening to see a similar pattern with CC apps on Apple Silicon.

To make things worse, Adobe recently announced major updates across its Creative Cloud software suite, which now includes native support for Macs running Apple Silicon. Unfortunately, these updates have brought their own set of issues. For instance, Illustrator, InDesign, and Lightroom Classic apps are now running natively on Apple Silicon, but this has resulted in new problems.

If you're experiencing issues with CC apps on your Apple Silicon device, here are some steps to troubleshoot the problem:

1. Use the desktop app to install your CC programs or trials.

2. If unable to install the desktop app, use the link at the bottom of the page to update MS Visual C++ if it can be updated.

3. Repair all MS Visual C++ versions that can be repaired.

4. Uninstall every CC app, including preferences and settings.

5. Check for updates and reinstall your OS if available.

6. If that fails, perform a clean CC install by following each applicable step.

It's frustrating to see Adobe releasing Universal versions of their apps without thoroughly testing them. Eventually, they will drop support for Apple Silicon altogether. To make matters worse, Rosetta 2 is just a temporary solution provided by Apple for lazy developers who haven't optimized their apps for the new architecture.

If you're experiencing issues with CC apps on your Apple Silicon device, I recommend following the troubleshooting steps above to resolve the problem. However, it's clear that Adobe still needs to work out the kinks in their Universal apps.

Creative cloud apple silicon