Adobe Acrobat Reader Compatibility with Apple M1 Macs
Question details
The user needs to know if Adobe Acrobat Reader is compatible with and can be installed on a MacBook Air equipped with an Apple M1 chip running macOS Big Sur.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Device & OS
- macOS Big Sur (Apple M1)
- Scenario
- Installing and running a PDF reader application on a new Apple Silicon-based Mac computer.
- Observed behavior
- Checking system requirements and compatibility to successfully open and read PDF files without architecture-related crashes.
Ensure your Mac is connected to the internet, as macOS Big Sur may need to download the Rosetta 2 translation environment the first time you attempt to run an Intel-based application.
Install and Run Acrobat Reader via Rosetta 2
Use Apple's built-in Rosetta 2 translation layer to seamlessly run the Intel-compatible release of Adobe Acrobat Reader on your M1 Mac.
Apple's M1 chips use a different architecture (ARM) than older Intel-based Macs. To ensure older applications still work flawlessly, Apple includes Rosetta 2 in macOS Big Sur. This software translates Intel commands so they can run on Apple Silicon.
While Adobe continuously rolls out native Apple Silicon support for its Creative Cloud apps, older or specific versions of Acrobat Reader may still require this translation layer. Running it through Rosetta 2 offers a stable experience with virtually unnoticeable performance differences for everyday PDF tasks.
Navigate to the official Adobe website and download the latest available Adobe Acrobat Reader installer for Mac.
Double-click the downloaded .dmg file and launch the Acrobat Reader installer. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
If you are running an Intel-only version of the app and haven't used Rosetta before, macOS will display a prompt asking to install Rosetta to open the app. Click 'Install'.
Open your Applications folder and double-click Adobe Acrobat Reader. The application will automatically run via Rosetta 2 and open your PDF files smoothly.
Open and Edit PDFs Natively on Apple M1 Macs with WPS Office
Skip the Rosetta 2 translation layer entirely. WPS Office is fully optimized for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3 chips), providing a blazing-fast, lightweight, and native application to read, edit, annotate, and manage your PDF files on macOS.
- 1. Download the Mac Installer: Visit the official WPS Office website and download the Mac version. The site will automatically provide the optimized installer for Apple Silicon.
- 2. Install the Application: Open the downloaded package and drag the WPS Office icon into your Applications folder to complete the installation.
- 3. Set as Default PDF Reader: Right-click any PDF file on your Mac, select 'Get Info', choose WPS Office from the 'Open with' dropdown menu, and click 'Change All'.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rosetta 2 slow down Adobe Acrobat Reader on an M1 Mac?
Rosetta 2 is highly efficient at translating Intel-based applications. While it technically adds a translation step, the speed of the M1 chip ensures that performance drops are generally unnoticeable for standard PDF reading, filling, and editing tasks.
How can I check if Acrobat Reader is running natively or through Rosetta?
Open the 'Activity Monitor' application on your Mac (found in Applications > Utilities). Go to the 'CPU' tab and locate Acrobat Reader in the list. Look at the 'Kind' column—it will display 'Intel' if it is running via Rosetta 2, or 'Apple' if it is running natively on the M1 chip.
Do I need to manually download Rosetta 2 from the App Store?
No. Rosetta 2 is not available as a standalone download. macOS Big Sur (and later versions) will automatically detect when you attempt to open an Intel-based app for the first time and will prompt you to install Rosetta 2 with a single click.
