Apple Silicon and UXP panels

This page is designed to help answer questions about the Apple hardware transition to "Apple Silicon" and related questions about Adobe UXP panels. Note that Lumenzia v10 runs natively on M1, the info below is just for reference for those how may be running Lumenzia v9 because they are running old versions of Photoshop.

If you're already using Apple Silicon and just looking to launch Photoshop with full support for all plugins and CEP panels (such as Lumenzia v9):

Right-click Photoshop in the finder and select Get Info, then check Open in Rosetta.
Once you launch under Rosetta, you may need to go to Window / Extensions (legacy) to open your CEP panels again.
WATCHOUT #1: You will not see the "Open in Rosetta" option if you are right-clicking on an "alias" (which looks like the image below and is just a virtual pointer to the actual program, where you can change this setting).
WATCHOUT #2: You will not see the "Open in Rosetta" option if you are right-clicking on the folder for Photoshop (which has its own fancy icon and looks like a program, but is not - so click into it).
This Rosetta2 setting tells your computer to run Photoshop in an emulation mode. Photoshop will still run very fast, and you will have access to all of your extension panels, etc.
You can run the application as normal after changing this setting. You will notice that the first launch will be a little slower due to some optimizations, but then future launches will start up quickly as normal.

WATCHOUT #3: The Rosetta setting for Photoshop will be ignored if you using Lightroom's "edit in" is what launches Photoshop. The workaround is very simple, just launch PS yourself before using LR's "edit in" command.

Q: What is "Apple Silicon"?

A: Apple has started to replace the use of Intel chips with their own custom chips. These are actually much more than just the traditional CPU and incorporate RAM, graphics, and other functions which have traditionally been separate chips. The end result is a massive improvement in both battery life and performance, and we are likely to see some other unique Apple-only benefits over time.

These new chips are ARM-based, which means that there will be a transition period for several years until all Mac software is written natively for Apple Silicon. However, this transition appears to be relatively smooth with Apple's "Rosetta2" emulation software, which allows you to run software written for Intel. This emulation is extremely efficient, with many apps showing better performance on the new M1 Apple Silicon chip under emulation than they did under previous Intel chips.

Q: Should I update to "Apple Silicon"?

A: At this stage, most critical apps run natively on Apple Silicon and the remainder tend to run very well under Rosetta (often as fast or faster given the performance benefits of M1). Unless you are using your Mac to run Windows or 32-bit apps (which is very unusual and you would know), Apple Silicon is an incredible upgrade and I highly recommend it. Please see my review of the M1 MacBook Pro at https://gregbenzphotography.com/photography-reviews/a-photographers-review-of-the-m1-max-macbook-pro.

Q: What are "UXP" panels?

A: This is a new Adobe standard for extension panels. Please see this post where I wrote about it in detail. It is of of significance for early adopters of Apple Silicon, as the vast majority of extension panels are not currently (and some will never) be available as UXP panels. This is no problem, as you can simply run Photoshop under Rosetta2 using the steps outline above. With it, you will have access to all your extension panels on any new Mac and continue to experience great performance.

Note that if you run Photoshop without Rosetta2 (ie, the version built for Silicon), you will currently experience a loss of a variety of features and plugins. In the long term, this will be the preferred solution to gain some additional performance, but it will probably take years before this is the best option for most advanced Photoshop users.