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Apple M1

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Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Illustrator, and InDesign are updated for Apple’s M1 Processor

Adobe has updated Lightroom, Illustrator, and InDesign so that it can run seamlessly on Apple’s M1 processor and utilize its true power. Be it working professionals or an early content creator, one can now use the Adobe Creative Cloud apps on the Apple M1 SoC with increased efficiency and productivity. Adobe claims that these apps have undergone third-party benchmark testing and now they will run 80 percent faster in Mac computers (M1 processor) as compared to Intel-based Apple laptops. All three apps of the Creative Cloud have received major updates and Adobe Lightroom has also been updated for other platforms as well. So, let’s look at the new features and what privilege the M1 users will get.

Updates for Adobe Lightroom

The new updates and the details for these Creative Cloud apps were shared in the Adobe blog on Monday. Both Adobe Lightroom and Lightroom Classic can utilize fully the power of Apple’s M1 SoC thus elevating user experience and getting work done smoothly. Pfeiffer Report conducted a benchmarking test according to which the app’s speed has doubled in the M1 processor as compared to Intel processor for Mac computers. The Super Resolution feature is working thrice the speed and back editing photos has become four times faster in this new Apple M1 processor. The other apps are also running way faster as compared to Intel-powered processors.

Adobe
Image Source: macrumors.com

Lightroom now has a new feature called premium presets which are curated by professional photographers. The Lightroom presets are always in high demand especially for content creators as they want to make it look more “aesthetic” on social media. The new presets are divided into seven categories, namely, Portrait-Deep Skin, Portrait-Medium Skin, Portrait-Light Skin, Cinematic, Futuristic, Vintage, and Travel. The number of presets will keep increasing as the app will get updated. This new preset feature is not only for M1 users but also Windows, iOS, Android, and the Web. By bringing this new feature Adobe is making the photographer community as many people struggle with post-processing skills like color grading.

Lightroom has also launched a collaboration tool with the help of which users can allow other users to edit albums. In order to do so, one user has to send an invite so that other users can edit them in the shared album. Super-resolution is another great feature of Lightroom as it uses Artificial Intelligence to increase the resolution of an image. Apart from these, Lightroom has also added a feature of Tethered Live View for certain Nikon cameras.

Updates for Adobe Illustrator and InDesign

With so many designers using Illustrator and InDesign for professional purposes, Adobe’s main goal was to optimize the performance and speed for these two apps. Users of M1 Mac have been using the Creative Cloud apps on their computers for a while, but with this new update, Adobe Illustrator speed has been increased by 65 percent in terms of performance. InDesign users will experience a 59 percent improvement in the overall performance of the app.

Adobe
Image Source: engineeringandphotography.xyz

InDesign is mostly used to design layouts of print publications, magazines, eBooks, etc. Now, the users will experience lightning-fast speed when it comes to opening a file and working on it. According to Adobe, InDesign will open a graphics-heavy file with 185 times faster speed than it used to be and scrolling performance for text-heavy documents has been increased by 78 percent. With such increased speed, one can complete tasks much before the deadline and take up new work without thinking about efficiency.

With the launch of the adaptive version of Adobe Illustrator for the M1 processor, it will take less time to load files going through the workflow in a much easier way. For Illustrator, the scroll performance while working with complex vectors has been made 390 times faster, and opening a complex file with 31 artboards has been made 119 percent faster. Adobe has mentioned in the blog that the new releases will be available to everyone across the globe very soon. The professionals and new creators will experience better workflow, especially in this remote working system while keeping themselves more engaged.  

Apple Platform Security Guide

Apple Platform Security Guide updated highlighting changes that came up with the M1 chip

On 19th February 2021, Apple updated the company’s Platform Security Guide highlighting all the new changes that have been implemented to iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple has updated the Platform Security Guide in a detailed fashion mentioning every detail about all the features used by Apple to protect user data. Apple has tried to increase the transparency between the company and the users so that they have an idea about how their devices and data are kept protected across any platform.

The new Platform Security Guide is the lengthiest guide of the company ever consisting of a 200-page detailed guide and information. But, the most highlighted information in the guide is about the M1 chip and all the new updates regarding security changes due to the same. Apple released the M1 chip last year and has also changed some security features accordingly.

Apple Platform Security Guide

After Apple released the last update of Platform Security Guide, it took the company ten long months to release the recent version. The main gadgets that have been focused on in this updated guide are iOS 14.3, iPad 14.3, macOS Big Sur 11.1, tvOS 14.3, and watchOS 7.2 (Gadgets 360). In the new Platform Security Guide, Apple has mainly focused on the security changes of Mac users through the new Apple M1 chip. There are eleven new topics regarding security changes and features that have introduced in the new guide.

Apple Platform Security Guide
Image Source: macrumors.com

According to the updated guide, there are security elements that will be able to provide the new Mac machines with a secure boot process. The Apple computers that are based on the new M1 silicon chip can enable kernel extensions in the devices. And, the authorization requirements for enabling this extension are also mentioned in the security guide.

In spite of the 200-page security guide mostly concerning the new M1 chip-enabled devices, Patrick Wardle, a security researcher has mentioned that M1-enabled Apple devices are still not fully secured. But, with software updates, the issues will be fixed in near future.

Security changes in iPhone and iPad

Apart from the changes that are followed by Apple’s M1 chip, the security guide also mentions the security changes for iPad and iPhone through the iOS14 updates. One of the most important iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates includes the iBoot implementation which is exclusively for the iPhones that are based on Apple A13 Bionic and above. In the case of iPads, the update is for the iPads fueled by Apple A14 Bionic chips. Apple has also updated the overall user experience by updating the silicon in iPad, iPhone, and Mac to T2 chip and AES hardware engine. This was incorporated to implement line-speed encryption.

Biometric Security System

Along with these updates, Apple has also included a set of changes for both its hardware and software division for the not-so-knew devices to uplift their security. One of the biggest changes that Apple has brought in its devices is face recognition and touch recognition adding an extra layer of security. Biometric security is becoming very popular recently and almost implemented in every smart device for the protection of data and devices. The conventional password protection is present along with that biometrics are added for a better user experience.

The previous reports have shown that around 51 percent of the total Apple users don’t prefer setting a password for their devices, because it takes too much effort to set a passcode and type it every time you unlock the device. So, even when there is a choice to provide security, many people choose not to set a passcode only because they have to give extra effort. But, after Apple introduced the Touch ID and Face ID, around 92 percent of Apple users switched to biometric authentication.

Every company strives to strengthen its security to the topmost level but glitches are found sooner or later. Many researchers often find bugs in the Apple security system and the company has even faced lawsuits due to this. Apple has also faced lawsuits due to copyright infringements in the anime of enhancing security systems. But, with the new updates, maybe the bugs will reduce and the overall user experience will improve.