Adobe has announced updates for its Premiere Rush and Premiere Pro video editing apps that promise to help both run much faster on both new Macs and Windows computers.
The headline update in Adobe's April 2021 release is native support for Premiere Rush on Apple M1 computers, including the Apple MacBook Air M1, Apple MacBook Pro M1, and Apple Mac Mini M1.
If you have one of those newer Macs and are looking for a relatively light, affordable video editing program, then Premiere Rush could be worth a look. Adobe says the update should provide better performance during playback and editing, along with faster exports, compared to Intel-based computers.
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- Read our in-depth Adobe Premiere Pro review
Premiere Rush is a little more fully-featured than iMovie, but you do have to subscribe to the app – either on its own ($9.99 / £9.98 / AU$14.29 per month) or as part of a Premiere Pro plan ($20.99 / £19.97 / $29.99 per month).
Adobe says that all common image file formats are still supported in the M1 update, and there is project syncing available whatever platforms you're on, from Apple Intel machines to Windows or the mobile versions of Premiere Rush.
Talking of which, Adobe has also made some minor tweaks to its iOS and Android versions of Rush. On iOS, you can now tap a video clip to bring up a menu that lets you split, duplicate or delete a clip – a function that should really have already existed, but is nice to see regardless. The Premiere Rush app is also now available for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Pro tools
More interested in Adobe Premiere Pro? While that was released in beta for Apple M1 computers in December 2020, Adobe said at the time said that "we are taking a phased approach as we build out native Apple M1 support", due to its large codebase. So while that hasn't been given full Apple Silicon support, there is better news for Windows fans.
In the new 15.1 version of Premiere Pro, there are apparently some new optimizations that improve export times using Intel Quick Sync hardware acceleration – with speeds that should be up to 1.8x faster than Premiere Pro 14.0.
If you regularly use Lumetri presets, which are Premiere Pro's tools for quick color corrections or grades, you should also find these much easier to use. They'll now provide a dynamic preview of presets in your current sequence, so you can see how they affect a particular frame.
Naturally, this Premiere Pro update isn't as big as the 15.0 one that arrived in March 2021 and brought several new features – including Motion Graphics templates and faster video stabilization – alongside bug fixes and performance boosts.
But the new Apple Silicon support for Premiere Rush could help make it a stronger iMovie alternative for those looking for quick YouTube edits, despite its higher price.
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