Apple this week released its new Big Sur operating system. (Read about it from CNN here.) In advance of this the Adobe Lightroom
team worked to make Lightroom Classic 10.0, cloud-based Lightroom 4.0 and Photoshop 22.0 compatible with Big Sur.
Lightroom Classic Compatibility with MacOS Big Sur
- As of Nov. 13, 2020 there are no known issues with Lightroom Classic 10.x.
- Compatibility of Lightroom Classic 9.x (and all earlier versions) was not tested and is not guaranteed.
- If you’re running Lightroom 6 or an even earlier version, you should never update to Big Sur (or Catalina). Read my Catalina article for why.
- Apple M1 processor support: Native compatibility for these new processors in new 13″ Mac Book Pros and Mac Minis will be added in a 2021 release. In the meantime Lightroom Classic can be run in Rosetta 2 emulation mode (though Adobe doesn’t officially support it, meaning they can’t take responsibility for emulator issues). There are no known issues with this. Do expect emulation mode performance to be slower.
- Adobe will keep this Lightroom Classic / Big Sur compatibility document up-to-date with known issues.
Cloud-Based Lightroom Compatibility with MacOS Big Sur
- As of Nov. 13, 2020 there are no known issues with Lightroom (Desktop) 4.x.
- Compatibility of Lightroom 3.x (and all earlier versions) was not tested and is not guaranteed.
- Apple M1 processor support: native compatibility has been added in Lightroom (Desktop) 4.1, released December 8, 2020.
- Adobe will keep this cloud-based Lightroom / Big Sur compatibility document up-to-date with known issues.
Photoshop Compatibility with MacOS Big Sur
- Photoshop 22.x is compatible with Big Sur. As of Nov. 13, 2020 there are some known issues – click through on the link below.
- Compatibility of Photoshop 21.x (and all earlier versions) was not tested and is not guaranteed.
- Apple M1 processors: native support will be added in a 2021 release. Photoshop 22.x can be run in Rosetta 2 emulation mode, but there are known issues – for these, click through on the link below. Do expect emulation mode performance to be slower.
- Adobe will keep this Photoshop / Big Sur compatibility document up-to-date with known issues.
Should I Update to MacOS Big Sur?
For most of you, I don’t recommend updating to Big Sur until its been out at least a few months (and possibly longer if Lightroom compatibility issues are identified and/or Photoshop issues aren’t yet resolved – waiting 6-9 months is not unreasonable).
Keep in mind also that Lightroom and Photoshop compatibility with Big Sur is not the only thing you should be concerned about – before updating you should research whether your printer and scanner drivers are compatible, tablets, and other peripherals, other apps you use, etc.. I hear that testing all your apps and peripherals while running Big Sur on a separate partition is an option, but this is way out of the scope of this blog.
Ever since I updated to Big Sur, I no longer can send emails through Lightroom, it won’t connect to server. So is Adobe going to fix the problem not happy.
That wasn’t a Big Sur issue, Eric – it was a 10.0 bug. It’s been fixed in 10.1, released today.
No the update did not fix the problem. The issue with emails actually started after the last update before Big Sur was released, before that I had now problems with sending emails.I’ve tried to contact Adobe about the problem no luck, I most probably won’t re new my subscription with them, try something else that’s cheaper, also I personally think they charge to much, I only use Lightroom.
Sorry to hear it, Eric. I’d recommend posting this in the Adobe bug/feedback forum – Adobe staff participates there.
Laura, I am a photographer and have just purchased a new iMac with Catalina. I need to purchase a new version of Lightroom. What is your recommendation?
Hi Susie,
Your options are the cloud-based Lightroom or Lightroom Classic, both available by subscription only. I’d recommend watching my recorded webinar, which compares the two Lightroom programs to help people make this decision.
Hi, I am using High Sierra and the LR and PS updates are not compatible. What should i do?
Thanks.
Mickey.
Update to Catalina or Big Sur, Mickey, or stay with the version of Lightroom Classic and PS you have.
Hi. I use LR 6.1.4. Was using High Sierra. Want the subscription LR. Thought I should upgrade OS first. Installed Big Sur. Very very slow and awkward need to get subscription. Should I downgrade back to High Sierra on Time mAchiane first or do I buy subscription. Can I import all my old catalogs into new subscription if I stay with Big Sur
No need to downgrade from Big Sur. Buy the subscription, then look for my How to Upgrade to Lightroom Classic 10 video in this post. My video series will get you up-to-speed on all that’s new since Lightroom 6.
Will be getting the new M1 iMac 2021 with Big Sur this week. My current iMac is 2011 vintage and I have LR 6.14, probably 2016 vintagenot a subscription model.
Will LR 6.14 work on the new computer at all or partially or fully? Thx.
Hi Diana, it won’t work at all – you won’t be able to install it. The installer program (from 2015) is 32 bit and won’t work on a 64 bit operating system. You’ll have to subscribe and use Lightroom Classic (or the cloud-based Lightroom, but Lightroom Classic is what you are used to.)
Thank you for the clear explanation and info.
I guess there’ll be a bit of a learning curve until I feel at ease with Lightroom Classic.
My old Lightroom 5 CD has both, setup32.exe and setup64.exe – so it will run on new M1 Mac?
No, Sven, it can’t be installed on the new Macs because the installer is only 32 bits. Those that you cite are set up programs for Windows (and they are installers for the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Lightroom, not 32 and 64 bit versions of the installer).