Unlocking Speed with Adobe Lightroom 2021 on Mac: A Performance Breakthrough

Switching over to 1:1 previews in Adobe Lightroom 2021 allows us to ignore changes in screen resolution or default preview size, providing a better basis for comparison. This approach takes longer to create, but the results are worth it. In this article, we'll delve into the performance gains of Lightroom Classic on Mac, particularly with the release of its Apple Silicon-optimized version.

For our tests, imports were configured with 1:1 previews, all other boxes unchecked, and exports were performed in two flavors: sRGB JPEGs at 100 percent and AdobeRGB TIFFs at 16-bit with no compression. These settings allowed us to accurately assess the performance of Lightroom Classic on Mac.

In contrast to previous benchmarks, we've noticed significant differences in this latest round of tests. While Capture One 21, Lightroom Classic's biggest rival, showed impressive performance gains with its Version 14.2 release optimized for Apple Silicon, Adobe Photoshop experienced a massive performance uplift when it was optimized for the M1 processor.

The stakes are high for Adobe, particularly with Lightroom Classic. When Lightroom for M1 was released in December 2020, we found meager performance gains above and beyond what M1 could already achieve via Rosetta 2 emulation of the Intel version. However, our experience with Apple Silicon-optimized apps from Adobe has been mixed to date.

The latest version of Lightroom Classic revealed a surprising twist: it was up to 25 percent faster on the M1 than its Intel-based counterpart. Could Apple's M1 processor deliver a significant performance boost for photographers? The answer is yes, and we're excited to share our findings with you.

In this article, we'll explore the performance benefits of Adobe Lightroom 2021 on Mac and what it means for photographers. Whether you're an enthusiast or professional, this update promises to revolutionize your workflow, making it faster, more efficient, and enjoyable.

Adobe lightroom 2021 mac