MacBook Air compatibility with Adobe Creative Cloud

Hi there, I'm using a 13" MacBook Air (2.2GHz dual core Intel Core i7 processor and 8GB 16000MHz LPDDR3 memory). It has 128GB storage and Intel HD 6000 graphics. I need to have Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and PremierPro on my laptop. I am not an expert and can't decide whether it would be wise for me to buy the Adobe Creative Cloud bundle. Would it work properly on my MacBook Air? Can anyone advise me on this? Many thanks in advance!

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 9, 2019 11:05 PM

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May 10, 2019 2:59 AM in response to shamimash

There are some considerations before you get and load more into the drive of your Mac.

How large are those programs? What is their load on the CPU and GPU? How full is the

capacity of the storage drive now? Before you add stuff, these are potential issues.


Could be you may put too much at stake; I suggest you research possible use of these

additional applications on an external drive, where they won't load internal hard drive?

This idea may require due consideration and an upgrade to enable use of external as

repository for additional applications should the internal storage be too small.


External storage with fast data connection (external should have power supply) may

be an answer. For some tasks, a more sturdy macbook/pro or desktop mac is best.


Much has been unsaid, but the storage/SSD seems small for those plus macOS apps.

And there should also be some free work-space for virtual memory on even an SSD.


Hardware consideration before new or additional software, & means to use it are first.




May 10, 2019 8:36 AM in response to shamimash

Can your computer handle Adobe CS? Well, yes...but. A 13" display and the Adobe interface don't get along well. When I was relying on Adobe products, on the road I often used my iPad as a second display to put the pallets on. Premiere on 13" display? Only to view footage. I generally worked with Adobe's products at home with my 22" external display.


Adobe Suite on a 128GB SSD is something I don't want to consider. My MBAir had a 256GB SSD and if I hadn't used my SD Card slot as additional storage I don't think I could have managed...and I didn't have the entire Adobe suite installed. And while 8GB of RAM might have seemed like a lot yesterday, today it is Apple's standard. I'm not screaming for more RAM on my current MBPro yet, but I can already feel a squeeze with only 8GB.


In short - if you intend to go out on the road with Adobe CS you will have to make some punishing compromises with such a small hard drive. If you intend to use it at home there's a doable compromise - you could set up an external USB 3 hard drive (say a 500GB SSD), clone the internal drive to it and then install the Adobe applications on the external drive. When you want to use Adobe products sit at the desk and boot up with the external drive. Either way you'll probably find yourself quitting and restarting applications to avoid serious memory pressure.

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MacBook Air compatibility with Adobe Creative Cloud

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