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Dropbox Planning to Add Native Apple Silicon Support to Mac App in First Half of 2022 [Updated]
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3 reasons this is an issue:
- Running it under Rosetta makes it hog system resources (memory, CPU) that the Intel native version doesn't.
- Rosetta is a stop-gap emulation layer to ease the transition from Intel to Apple silicon. At some point in the not-too-distance future, Rosetta will go away.
- Apple Silicon is the future of the Mac platform. Acting like it's no big deal is lazy/tone-deaf/disrespectful/incompetent* (delete as appropriate)
Eventually it will just be unnecessary baggage. It reaches a point where only old neglected software still requires it and so best to drop support eventually.
I'd happily spend the Dropbox money with Apple but fact is, their business offering is incredibly poor. Sharing options and live working files are difficult and multi user control is basically non existent. They don't even offer an annual subscription, only monthly.
I have spoken to my Apple Business Manager countless times on this and all they do is apologise and say "maybe at some point in the future".
The Dropbox situation is not ideal but quite honestly I haven't had any issue with any our of M1 Macs using Dropbox, and there is not currently a better option out there.
I have spoken to my Apple Business Manager countless times on this and all they do is apologise and say "maybe at some point in the future".
The Dropbox situation is not ideal but quite honestly I haven't had any issue with any our of M1 Macs using Dropbox, and there is not currently a better option out there.
Maybe I’m being a bit slow here. But iCloud isn’t a Dropbox substitute as far as I understand it. DB is a separate storage location whereas iCloud seems to want to back everything up onto the Mac which is incredibly annoying, especially with the price Apple charge for SSD storage. So for those who are saying they will switch to iCloud, will this really give you what you want?
Google Drive, OneDrive are a better replacement. Much much better than Dropbox in many situations.
I've seen Rosetta2 Dropbox eats up to 1GB of RAM and remember on your M1 , sometimes all you have is 8GB.
Both products suffer from the same issue - they really are traditionally more features than standalone products.
So both are being driven to pursue different markets for growth - in particular creating products they can sell for broad seat coverage in corporate accounts.
This is also why both apps have moved to Electron - because they have/are going to need to greatly increase their feature-sets to sell into these markets, and don't feel they can afford to if they are doing native apps for each platform.
It shouldn't be an "effort", something like supporting a different arc or new version of an OS is what decides if a SW is maintained or not.
If Dropbox want to mark their product as "obsolete abondonware" ..... thats fine by me.
I love how there are 100 more votes on the idea in the dropbox community every time I check the page again. Thank you MacRumors!
But in the meantime, they are going to continue to lose Mac customers. By the time they fix this, they may have a lot less customers than they do now.
Dropbox uses a KEXT to run as a system service so they can intercept the file operations to know what has changed.Wow. How heavy is that "one switch in the compiler" (to make all Mac apps native)?
Apple is deprecating KEXTs and moving apps to a new system. It requires users to install it by disabling security settings, rebooting, installing the app, then rebooting then reenabling security settings. that is going to complicate things significantly.
I have not yet worked out how I can post a link to a file and let people download it - without revealing my identity.
Yes, I think I could change my AppleID details but I really don't want to go messing with them.
Same people that claim that Intel is doomed when the real working world still runs on it.
What a blunder for DropBox ...
I stopped using them probably a decade ago when I ran into the cap and had mac issues.
Setup my personal cloud with a NAS, and have not looked back.
Unlimited file syncing, between 4 systems and 3 platforms, access from phone and tablet, no slow internet needed.
I stopped using them probably a decade ago when I ran into the cap and had mac issues.
Setup my personal cloud with a NAS, and have not looked back.
Unlimited file syncing, between 4 systems and 3 platforms, access from phone and tablet, no slow internet needed.
Yeah I moved off dropbox after they forcibly changed my plan from 1TB to 2TB and made me pay more even though I didn't need more space. Kinda silly not to consider M1 support or even just say "it's in development" at least.
I think they have a point just like how Nokia and Blackberry are just a shadow of their former selves... Nokia and Blackberry were not able to adapt and so where are they now? Same thing might happen if Dropbox does not create a native solution to Apple Silicon devices...
I went TO Dropbox after the mess Google made out of Drive on the Mac. SMB mounts from localhost? Come on, can they be any more clueless? OneDrive isn't even a consideration so there's really no other choice unless you want to stand something up on your own.
I'm planning on checking out Maestral, I just haven't had the time.
I learned about the Dropbox M1 support issue when I received my MacBook Pro Tuesday. Tried Maestral and found it to be a bit clunky and it was kicking out errors as it seems to have issues with some file names.
Decided it wasn't worth it and switched my files to iCloud since I already have a family plan. iCloud doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but I can't justify paying Dropbox when they do not have a native client.
iCloud has worked great. Bye Dropbox (after many years)
this is reminiscent of the time when Facebook insisted HTML5 was the future and neglected to develop a native iOS app.... then we got a native app. Facebook also said it would never make an iPad app... then we got that too.
Dropbox will switch over also, no doubt, just an odd denial phase.
Dropbox will switch over also, no doubt, just an odd denial phase.
Dropbox is Electron, so they have a much smaller code change to make.Wow. How heavy is that "one switch in the compiler" (to make all Mac apps native)?