Apple Highlights Popular Apps Optimized for M1 Macs

[MacRumors]

Apple recently shared a list of popular apps optimized for Macs with the M1 chip that are available in the Mac App Store, such as Pixelmator Pro, Adobe Lightroom, Affinity Designer, Darkroom, Fantastical, BBEdit, Instapaper, and Twitter.

"Macs with the new Apple M1 chip offer unprecedented performance, and developers can optimize their apps for the M1 to deliver game-changing speed and capabilities," says Apple. "Get started with these apps that take full advantage of the power of M1."

MacRumors also has a crowdsourced list of apps that run natively on Apple Silicon Macs, including apps available outside of the Mac App Store.

At WWDC 2020 in June, Apple revealed its plans to begin using its own custom Apple Silicon processors in Macs, starting with the M1 chip. Apple said that its transition away from Intel processors in Macs would take around two years to be completed, with future Apple Silicon Macs rumored to include redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, a 24-inch iMac, a smaller version of the Mac Pro, and more.

Last month, Apple released its first Macs with the M1 chip, including a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini, and benchmarks confirmed that the chip delivers industry-leading performance per watt. Apple's custom silicon is so impressive that the base model MacBook Air outperforms a maxed-out Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Article Link: Apple Highlights Popular Apps Optimized for M1 Macs

 

[ct2k7]

The more apps that get updated the better.

 

[omenatarhuri]

For most apps it’s ridiculously easy. Just recompile and that’s it. Apple has done a phenomenal job with this CPU transition. ?

 

[performa_6400]

Love seeing this list grow. Can't wait to see the adobe suite make it over.

 

[djcerla]

I noticed that emulated Audio Unit plugins do work on the native (non-Rosetta) Logic Pro X. This goes against what was reported (emulated plug ins only in Rosetta-emulated DAWs).

So far, I installed Serum, Soothe 2, ShaperBox, LFOtool, and others. ReFx's Nexus 2 is already optimized.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

For most apps it’s ridiculously easy. Just recompile and that’s it.

Cool. You're a developer yourself?

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Let me know when you get Solidworks or Inventor on it.
I’ll be in my coffin, holding my breath.

 

[ikramerica]

Considering how some companies warn against the newest hardware and OS, I was surprised to read that Graphisoft says ArchCAD works on M1 with Big Sur.

They are usually 1 OS behind for their latest release and warn you of that. but their PR says that they have been testing on the AS developer box for a while and very positive about it, and now that M1 macs are out they are using them and running and compiling in Big Sur.

 

[newdeal]

I don't use too many apps but I do wonder how using non-native apps impacts battery life. Especially those that are running in the background all the time (although most of those do tend to be pretty small apps)

 

[RogueWarrior65]

BBedit? Twitter?!?! *facepalm* Do these apps really need to be optimized?

 

[PsykX]

Cool. You're a developer yourself?

I am a developer as a hobby, and he's right.
At least for apps that don't rely on fancy frameworks.

 

[RobbieTT]

BBedit? Twitter?!?! *facepalm* Do these apps really need to be optimized?

Of course, madness not to.

Not that I could ever imagine joining Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and alike but it is great at putting all those people who should be compulsory-labelled to actually do so on voluntary basis...

?

 

[omenatarhuri]

Cool. You're a developer yourself?

Yep. ?

 

[ajfahey]

The list is a start but is far less than a compelling reason to buy an M1 Mac. That already existed with legacy performance on Rosetta.

 

[google]

Does moving to M1 means you have buy the app all over if you previously owned it? Does Office have to be updated to a version that runs on M1?

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

For most apps it’s ridiculously easy. Just recompile and that’s it. Apple has done a phenomenal job with this CPU transition. 👍

Not a programmer, but is there a difference between an app that was Intel and "just recompiled" and one that was written for M1 explicitly? Would the latter perform even better?

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Does moving to M1 means you have buy the app all over if you previously owned it? Does Office have to be updated to a version that runs on M1?

You do not have to re-buy apps to get M1 versions. The App Store contains "Universal" apps that contain both Intel and Native Apple Silicon versions of the apps.

Regarding Office, there is a native Apple version available from Apple. Download and install the one on the App Store, then flick the setting to enable Insider Previews. Then do a Microsoft AutoUpdate and it will find and download the Apple M1/Silicon version. You then also get frequent updates.

EDIT: I mean to say the Microsoft365 version from Microsoft, not from Apple.

 

[omenatarhuri]

Not a programmer, but is there a difference between an app that was Intel and "just recompiled" and one that was written for M1 explicitly? Would the latter perform even better?

Depends on what you're developing. Lots of apps get written at a higher abstraction level where you are defining what the app looks like and what it does (the conditional business logic). It's not all too common that you would really need to write anything that is so close to the hardware where you'd do something differently based on the CPU architecture (how the machine should do what you want it to do).

Apps that would do that would be those where getting peak performance is critical, apps like games or some heavy-duty video editing I suppose or the likes. But I'd be surprised if there's anything like that in some of the apps on the list e.g. in Twitter, BBEdit or Fantastical.

Please note that I'm not contradicting what is said up there, these apps are now "optimised for M1". The fact that it can be done simply by recompiling is great and makes many devs life easy.

 

[TantalizedMind]

The more apps that get updated the better.

The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

 

[xander09]

Regarding Office, there is a native Apple version available from Apple. Download and install the one on the App Store, then flick the setting to enable Insider Previews. Then do a Microsoft AutoUpdate and it will find and download the Apple M1/Silicon version. You then also get frequent updates.

You do not have to purchase from the App Store to get the M1 Microsoft Office beta. I get Office through my school and was able to select “Insider Preview” from the Microsoft Update app to get the M1 beta.

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

The more apps that get updated the better.

Interesting perspective, tell me more.

 

[FaustsHausUK]

As far as I can tell, none of the music hardware and software I use is Big Sur ready yet, regardless of the underlying ISA. Logic Pro is, but it's pretty useless if my interface and plug-ins don't work.

 

[axboi87]

Kind of off-topic but they did mention the smaller Mac Pro. I love my trashcan and would LOVE a new cube that looks similar to the current Mac Pro (cheese grater cube?)

 

[TimB21]

Someone needs to help Box get their act together.

 

[mrhansolo]

You do not have to re-buy apps to get M1 versions. The App Store contains "Universal" apps that contain both Intel and Native Apple Silicon versions of the apps.

Regarding Office, there is a native Apple version available from Apple. Download and install the one on the App Store, then flick the setting to enable Insider Previews. Then do a Microsoft AutoUpdate and it will find and download the Apple M1/Silicon version. You then also get frequent updates.

Where is the setting in the app store version? I have app store versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint and have not been able to find a setting for insiders.