Apple Highlights Popular Apps Optimized for M1 Macs

Apple recently shared a list of popular apps optimized for Macs with the M1 chip that are available in the Mac App Store, such as Pixelmator Pro, Adobe Lightroom, Affinity Designer, Darkroom, Fantastical, BBEdit, Instapaper, and Twitter.

"Macs with the new Apple M1 chip offer unprecedented performance, and developers can optimize their apps for the M1 to deliver game-changing speed and capabilities," says Apple. "Get started with these apps that take full advantage of the power of M1."

GeekWebGuides also has a crowdsourced list of apps that run natively on Apple Silicon Macs, including apps available outside of the Mac App Store.

At WWDC 2020 in June, Apple revealed its plans to begin using its own custom Apple Silicon processors in Macs, starting with the M1 chip. Apple said that its transition away from Intel processors in Macs would take around two years to be completed, with future Apple Silicon Macs rumored to include redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, a 24-inch iMac, a smaller version of the Mac Pro, and more.

Last month, Apple released its first Macs with the M1 chip, including a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini, and benchmarks confirmed that the chip delivers industry-leading performance per watt. Apple's custom silicon is so impressive that the base model MacBook Air outperforms a maxed-out Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro.