Adobe has announced the long-awaited beta availability of several core creative applications, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, and Media Encoder, for Windows on Arm devices. This development represents a crucial advancement for individuals utilizing Arm-powered Windows machines, particularly those with Qualcomm’s Copilot Plus PCs. These initial native Arm6based versions aim to deliver improved performance compared to the previously emulated software, which often fell short for intensive video production. However, it's important to note that these beta releases do not yet offer full feature parity with their Intel counterparts and present certain known issues that Adobe intends to address in future updates.
For years, users of Windows on Arm devices have faced a significant hurdle with professional creative software, particularly in the realm of video editing. While Adobe released an Arm-compatible beta of Photoshop back in 2020, the more resource-intensive applications like Premiere Pro and After Effects have been slow to follow. This delay meant that those with Qualcomm-powered devices were forced to rely on emulated versions of these programs, leading to compromised performance and a less than ideal workflow for demanding tasks. The current beta releases mark a concerted effort by Adobe to provide a natively optimized experience, leveraging the architectural advantages of Arm processors for smoother operation and greater efficiency.
However, the transition to native Arm64 support is not without its caveats. The beta version of Premiere Pro for Windows on Arm, for instance, currently lacks support for third-party extensions, ProRes raw video files, and hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC playback and export in MP4. While Adobe has expressed its commitment to incorporating these features in future releases, some functionalities, such as the Loudness Radar effect, export to Wraptor DCP, GoPro CineForm content, and P2 Movie format export, will not be part of either the beta or the final versions for Windows on Arm. Similarly, Adobe After Effects on Windows on Arm also shows missing features, including ProRes support and the ability to import or export specific formats like ARRIRAW, SWF, GoPro CinePro, JPEG20000 in MXF, and WMV. Furthermore, hardware-accelerated playback and export for H.264 and HEVC in MP4 are not yet available, and third-party plug-ins for After Effects will require updates to function correctly with this new Arm-native build. The Audition and Media Encoder beta versions also reflect similar limitations, highlighting the ongoing development process for these critical applications on the Arm platform.
The release of these native Arm-based beta versions addresses a long-standing need for enhanced performance and compatibility within the Windows on Arm ecosystem. While certain features are still under development or may not be included, this move signifies Adobe’s dedication to supporting this evolving hardware landscape, offering a more robust and efficient creative experience for users previously constrained by emulation.
