Adobe Lightroom gains Windows 10 on ARM and Apple M1 chip support

What you need to know

• Adobe updated Lightroom to work on Windows 10 on ARM devices.
• Alongside Windows 10 on ARM support, Adobe optimized Lightroom for Apple's M1 chips.
• Lightroom now takes advantage of the performance and power efficiency benefits of its newly-supported processors.

Native support means no more emulation for Lightroom users on Windows 10 on ARM and Apple's M1 chips.

Adobe updated Lightroom to natively support Windows 10 on ARM and Apple's M1 chips. That means that the program now takes advantage of the platforms, including power and efficiency improvements. With the rollout of native support for Windows 10 on ARM and Apple's M1 chips, Lightroom is now available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the web in some form. It's also available across a wide range of processor architectures.

Support for Windows 10 on ARM devices means that owners of devices like the Surface Pro X can now use Lightroom as a native app. On the Apple side of things, Adobe has unleashed the power of Apple's current M1 chips that run in the Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air.

Running natively means that people don't have to deal with emulation to use Lightroom. Windows 10 on ARM can emulate some apps, and Rosetta 2 under x86 emulation works well on Apple hardware, but a native application is always going to be better than one running through emulation.

In addition to native support for Windows 10 on ARM and Apple's M1 chips, Adobe also rolled out updates for Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom for Windows, Maca, Android, ChromeOS, iOS, and iPadOS. Here are some of the changes in those updates, as outlined by Adobe:

• ProRAW format support. You'll be able to import and edit images taken in the Apple ProRAW format in the December updates to Camera Raw, Lightroom Classic, or Lightroom (desktop, iOS, Android, lightroom.adobe.com). ProRAW is built using the Adobe DNG file format and specification. Please click here for more information
• New Lightroom widgets for iOS14. Quickly take photos and selfies using the Lightroom camera, explore Discover Edits and In-app tutorials from the Widgets screen. You can even drag these onto the Home screen for easier access. (Lightroom iOS only, requires iOS14 and later)
• The free Lightroom Starter plan is now available for Lightroom desktop (Mac and Win). Available only in Australia and New Zealand, new customers can start for free and use core Lightroom features, such as the Sensei-based Auto or the Light and Color editing sliders, without a subscription or trial limits. Check it out here!

You can download the latest update for Adobe Lightroom now on either your PC or Mac. Lightroom itself is a free download, but you'll need a Creative Cloud subscription if you want to use it beyond the initial one-week free trial.