Which mini to run older version of adobe creative suite

[Luis Ortega]

My current imac will no longer install my old adobe creative suite version 6 that was the last version on cd that you could own outright.
what sort of older Mac mini and OS version should I buy so I can run this software?
thanks for any advice.

 

[Bigwaff]

My current imac will no longer install my old adobe creative suite version 6 that was the last version on cd that you could own outright.

What is your current iMac year and model?

what sort of older Mac mini and OS version should I buy so I can run this software?

What are the system requirements for the version of Adobe Creative Suite you want to run?

 

[Boyd01]

Perhaps the 2012? It can run MacOS Mountain Lion up to Catalina. The quad-core 2.6ghz i7 had very respectable performance in its day, roughly comparable to the base 2018 i5 Mini. Maximum RAM was 16gb. Still use mine as a fileserver. There was also a 2.3ghz quad that was only slightly slower. These are pretty inexpensive today.

Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012) Specs (Late 2012, BTO/CTO, Macmini6,2, A1347, 2570): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

I'd forget the 2014 Mini, the 2012 quad was about 50% faster than the top-spec 2014 dual i7 (no quad mini's in 2014).

I don't know anything about CS6 though. Is this only a 32-bit compatibility issue? If so, the 2018 Mini can run Mojave and the hex-core i7 CPU is at least twice as fast as the 2012 quad, plus other improvements that make it much faster, plus a max of 64gb RAM. Not sure if it can be rolled back to Mojave after being upgraded to newer versions of MacOS though.

Mac mini "Core i7" 3.2 (Late 2018) Specs (2018, BTO/CTO, Macmini8,1, A1993, 3213): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac mini "Core i7" 3.2 (Late 2018). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

 

[Ben J.]

I'm guessing the OSX version is at least as important as the mac mini model. So I'd find which OSX Adobe v6 is known to work with (may find info on adobe forums), and then choose a mac that can run it. I was very happy with 2018 i5 mini - not so much with the 2018 i7 mini because of the fan noise.

What about CD? Do you have to have a CD reader to install, or can you install from disk images of the CDs?

 

[MBAir2010]

my 2010 MacBook Air, 2012 Mini and MBPro runs CS4 perfectly with Mojave.

 

[1madman1]

CS6 will officially work in MacOS versions up to Mojave (10.14), though I've read it will work in Catalina (10.15) with some modifications and some functionality loss.

The 2018 mini will run with Mojave (10.14) - I'd get a 2018 if you want speed.

 

[Luis Ortega]

I think that CS6 will need 10.8 mountain lion to work, according to their websites, but so far all of the used minis I can see come with 13 installed (the 2018 ones) and I though that you couldn't back install once they were upgraded.
I still have my old snow leopard and probably mountain lion cds, so would it be possible to install snow leopard or mountain lion over a newer OS? I recall that I got as far as El Capitan before I had problems installing CS6.
Can one still download El Capitan OS?

 

[padams35]

You can back install to any OS that originally ran, but the very that originally shipped sometimes has issues. Case in point, firmware updates have broken 2018 mac mini eGPU support in Mojave.

Any reason to prefer a mini to say, a late 2013 imac?

 

[Boyd01]

I think that CS6 will need 10.8 mountain lion to work

The 2018 Mini definitely won't let you install Mountain Lion, neither will the 2014 Mini. You should look for a 2012 quad-core Mini if you really need that. Of course, there will be many security issues with using Mountain Lion as a all-around Mac today.

The other option would be a virtual machine. I run Mountain Lion and Sierra VM's under Parallels on my 2018 Mini and they work really well with some very expensive legacy software (VectorWorks, Strata3dCX, FileMaker Pro). Took a lot of trial and error to get them setup though. While this works well with my software, it may not work with some graphics apps, depending on how they're written. Would be surprised if you could edit video with Premiere in a VM, but really don't know.

The 2018 Mini is well-suited to this since it runs the current version of MacOS and you can expand memory up to 64gb (RAM wasn't designed to be user-upgradeable, but it can be done).

 

[pmiles]

Be careful. If your software has to go out to the licensing server in order to install the software, you won't be able to install the software because that server no longer exists.

Adobe kept it running for a while but has since shut it down. Legacy software and all. So, in a nutshell, said software will continue to run on any machine that ALREADY has it installed on it, but it will not allow you to do a new install of said software (no licensing server to connect to).

Let's say you have an old Mac Pro 2010 tower running the suite. You decide for giggles to reformat the hard drive and install the OS anew. You then proceed to try to install the Adobe Suite. It attempts to verify your serial number, but it can't, so the installation fails.

I'm speaking from personal experience here. You will not be able to install the Adobe Suite onto any machine. If it already is installed, it will continue to run, it just will not allow you to install the software. Thank Adobe's subscription based software for that.

 

[zgagato]

CS6 works perfectly under High Sierra 10.13. Hardware wise the 2014 mini is the best. not the fastest but ... the problem is that the cpu in 2012 mini/mbp 13 can die. 2014 mini wont die and the gpu is faster. high sierra is going to run on it no problem.

 

[Boyd01]

My 2012 quad 2.6ghz Mini was used heavily with Final Cut Pro and Logic for a number of years, then I turned it into a fileserver when I upgraded. It has run 24/7 since 2020 this way. CPU still has not died, in spite of this. 🤣

Can't say that I've seen posts here about CPU death in the 2012 Mini - have you? But I do agree, that the older the computer, the more likely it is to die. I also have two 2014 Mini's that have been used 24/7 as servers and they are basically fine, though the original 500gb hard drive in one is dying. But the 2014 mini is arguably the worst Apple produced. If you get one of those, be sure it is the i7 model with 16gb RAM (RAM cannot be upgraded, it's soldered). Even that will be much slower than the 2012 quad.

 

[Luis Ortega]

Be careful. If your software has to go out to the licensing server in order to install the software, you won't be able to install the software because that server no longer exists.

Adobe kept it running for a while but has since shut it down. Legacy software and all. So, in a nutshell, said software will continue to run on any machine that ALREADY has it installed on it, but it will not allow you to do a new install of said software (no licensing server to connect to).

Let's say you have an old Mac Pro 2010 tower running the suite. You decide for giggles to reformat the hard drive and install the OS anew. You then proceed to try to install the Adobe Suite. It attempts to verify your serial number, but it can't, so the installation fails.

I'm speaking from personal experience here. You will not be able to install the Adobe Suite onto any machine. If it already is installed, it will continue to run, it just will not allow you to install the software. Thank Adobe's subscription based software for that.

Well, that pretty much kills my plan.
I had CS6 on my old 2008 Mac Pro until the computer died, but the ssd system drive was ok and I may still have it around.
Could I install that into some older Mac and still have access to the installed CS6 apps? I never uninstalled them when the computer died.
I currently have a 2020 intel 27 inch iMac. Could I put the old ssd drive in an enclosure and be able to boot from it? I suspect that there are some incompatibilities between the file format of the old drive and the newer file systems in the 2020 iMac.

 

[Boyd01]

You might want to confirm that Adobe has taken down the CS6 license servers. I know they have taken down older ones (like the CS3 that I own) but not sure how far they've gone. I know that they provided a work-around for CS2 when they took the server down - they provided an all-purpose serial number that anybody could use to activate it without the server. Don't know if they did that for the newer versions.

Personally, I only wanted Photoshop and just gave up and subscribed to their photography plan, which is pretty inexpensive.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I had CS6 on my old 2008 Mac Pro until the computer died, but the ssd system drive was ok and I may still have it around."

Wait. Stop right there.

It MIGHT be possible to "move the entire Adobe install" MANUALLY from the old SSD you have to the drive on a new Mac.

I actually did this with an old copy of Lightroom (I think it was version 5). The program ran, but because it was so old, it would quit spontaneously (thinking it was the m-series cpu or the new OS). But it would "launch" and begin to run.

You must take notes (WRITTEN notes) on where EVERYTHING installed by Adobe goes, so all the items can be "properly placed" on the new drive.

You need to take steps to overcome permissions problems when you connect the old drive to the new Mac. Here's how:
1. Connect the SSD
2. Let the icon mount on the desktop. DO NOT open it.
3. Click ONE time on the icon to select it, then bring up the "get info" box (you can just type "command-i")
4. At the bottom of get info, enter the password you're using on the NEW Mac
5. Put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
6. Close get info.
Now whatever you copy from the old SSD will "fall under the ownership" of your NEW account on the new Mac.

Again, you will have to conduct a thorough search to find where "everything Adobe" is. Most if not all of it will be in your home folder, in one of the various sub-folders inside (look in "Library").

Good luck.
And... if this works... would you please come back and post a report?

 

[Luis Ortega]

Thanks Fishrrman, I will give that a try.
one question- I currently have the full subscription package from adobe installed on my iMac. Will that make any difference?

 

[Fishrrman]

"I currently have the full subscription package from adobe installed on my iMac. Will that make any difference?"

I can't answer that.
If you're currently subscribed to Adobe, then what do you need the older software for?

 

[bogdanw]

adobe-packager https://github.com/Drovosek01/adobe-packager
"This is a script that allows you to download portable installers of programs from Adobe for macOS with different versions and different or all languages. This can help system administrators who need to install the same program from Adobe on several computers, as well as those people who do not want to use the latest version of programs from Creative Cloud or install the application on an officially unsupported version of macOS"

 

[Luis Ortega]

"I currently have the full subscription package from adobe installed on my iMac. Will that make any difference?"

I can't answer that.
If you're currently subscribed to Adobe, then what do you need the older software for?

I'm tired of paying about 250 a year for stuff I rarely use anymore.
With FCP and Motion and the Affinity apps that I own outright, I can do what I want, but I do love Photoshop and like to use Flash for making animations.

 

[ChrisA]

My current imac will no longer install my old adobe creative suite version 6 that was the last version on cd that you could own outright.
what sort of older Mac mini and OS version should I buy so I can run this software?
thanks for any advice.

Why a Mini? If you must run an older Mac, buy an older Mac Pro that is nearly maxed out with RAM and GPU. Such a machine can be almost as fast as a new base model Mini.

You don't want an older Mini, they were dead-dog slow.

This is the problem with buying software on CD, eventually, you will have to hunt down an antique computer to run it. Already CD drives are kind of rare. In a few years, they will be like floppy disk drives, hard to find.

If you are going to bnuy an antique computer the Mac Pro is the best one because you can just keep replacing the parts one at a time and the cost is pretty low.

 

[pmiles]

I'm tired of paying about 250 a year for stuff I rarely use anymore.
With FCP and Motion and the Affinity apps that I own outright, I can do what I want, but I do love Photoshop and like to use Flash for making animations.

Perhaps what you should really be looking for is an alternative to Photoshop and Flash? I don't know of anyone who still uses Flash commercially, so you must be just using it as a tool. Photoshop can be replaced unless you have to share or deliver content in PSD format. Affinity isn't Illustrator, so if you could make that adjustment, Photoshop should be no different. Ditto for a Flash alternative.

 

[fuchsdh]

Perhaps the 2012? It can run MacOS Mountain Lion up to Catalina. The quad-core 2.6ghz i7 had very respectable performance in its day, roughly comparable to the base 2018 i5 Mini. Maximum RAM was 16gb. Still use mine as a fileserver. There was also a 2.3ghz quad that was only slightly slower. These are pretty inexpensive today.

Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012) Specs (Late 2012, BTO/CTO, Macmini6,2, A1347, 2570): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

I'd forget the 2014 Mini, the 2012 quad was about 50% faster than the top-spec 2014 dual i7 (no quad mini's in 2014).

I don't know anything about CS6 though. Is this only a 32-bit compatibility issue? If so, the 2018 Mini can run Mojave and the hex-core i7 CPU is at least twice as fast as the 2012 quad, plus other improvements that make it much faster, plus a max of 64gb RAM. Not sure if it can be rolled back to Mojave after being upgraded to newer versions of MacOS though.

Mac mini "Core i7" 3.2 (Late 2018) Specs (2018, BTO/CTO, Macmini8,1, A1993, 3213): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac mini "Core i7" 3.2 (Late 2018). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

You can roll back to Mojave (I've done it with my current machine) you just need to do a little extra effort of external booting from USB media: https://scriptingosx.com/2020/01/downgrading-a-mac-that-shipped-with-catalina-to-mojave/

To answer the question any Mac that can run Mojave and thus the 32-bit Adobe apps would be fine for your purposes, but it's also worth considering if migrating off legacy Creative Suite apps to something modern might be more cost-effective in the long run.

 

[Luis Ortega]

OP wrote:
"I had CS6 on my old 2008 Mac Pro until the computer died, but the ssd system drive was ok and I may still have it around."

Wait. Stop right there.

It MIGHT be possible to "move the entire Adobe install" MANUALLY from the old SSD you have to the drive on a new Mac.

I actually did this with an old copy of Lightroom (I think it was version 5). The program ran, but because it was so old, it would quit spontaneously (thinking it was the m-series cpu or the new OS). But it would "launch" and begin to run.

You must take notes (WRITTEN notes) on where EVERYTHING installed by Adobe goes, so all the items can be "properly placed" on the new drive.

You need to take steps to overcome permissions problems when you connect the old drive to the new Mac. Here's how:
1. Connect the SSD
2. Let the icon mount on the desktop. DO NOT open it.
3. Click ONE time on the icon to select it, then bring up the "get info" box (you can just type "command-i")
4. At the bottom of get info, enter the password you're using on the NEW Mac
5. Put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
6. Close get info.
Now whatever you copy from the old SSD will "fall under the ownership" of your NEW account on the new Mac.

Again, you will have to conduct a thorough search to find where "everything Adobe" is. Most if not all of it will be in your home folder, in one of the various sub-folders inside (look in "Library").

Good luck.
And... if this works... would you please come back and post a report?

I tried the process you described but the software refused to install anyway.
It said that the operating system was incompatible.
But thanks anyway.
My son suggested that I install a virtual machine and then install mountain lion on that and then try installing CS6 and see if I can activate it by the offline method.

 

[Boyd01]

As I posted above, I run Mountain Lion in a virtual machine in Parallels on my 2018 Mini and it works really well with some expensive old software, but not all graphics apps will work in a VM. It wasn't easy setting up the virtual machine though. We discussed this in another thread, and it appears the method I used doesn't work in the current version of Parallels.

 

[Luis Ortega]

As I posted above, I run Mountain Lion in a virtual machine in Parallels on my 2018 Mini and it works really well with some expensive old software, but not all graphics apps will work in a VM. It wasn't easy setting up the virtual machine though. We discussed this in another thread, and it appears the method I used doesn't work in the current version of Parallels.

I'm only interested in using Photoshop and Flash in CS6, and I'm not doing any intensive work, just basic stuff.
My current iMac is a 2020 intel i7 3.8 ghz 8-core with 32gb ram and it runs the creative cloud subscription suite very well, so I hope the old versions of photoshop and flash will run ok in a virtual machine. Since I don't want to waste money on Parallels, I hope to use Virtualbox which is free. If I can't get the software to install or to activate, I can just remove the whole thing.