Adobe Photoshop Free Download for Mac
Full Version — CC 2025, 2024, 2023, CS6

System Requirements — macOS, RAM, Apple Silicon

Adobe Photoshop CC 2025 requires macOS 12 Monterey as the minimum operating system, with 8 GB RAM required and 16 GB RAM recommended per Adobe Inc.'s official documentation. Workloads involving Firefly AI Generative Fill or large multi-layer composites benefit from 32 GB RAM. A GPU with at least 2 GB VRAM and support for Metal is mandatory for GPU-accelerated features including Scrubby Zoom and Adaptive Wide Angle.

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) — Native vs. Rosetta 2

Photoshop CC 2025 version 22.3 and later ships as a universal binary and runs natively on all Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3, and M4) without the Rosetta 2 translation layer. Adobe Inc. confirmed native ARM support in the v22.3 release notes published in January 2022. Photoshop CS6 and CS5 are Intel-only binaries that require Rosetta 2 for execution on M-series hardware. macOS Big Sur and later install Rosetta 2 automatically on the first launch of any Intel-only application.

Photoshop CS3 is a 32-bit application. Apple removed 32-bit process support entirely in macOS Catalina (10.15). CS3 cannot run on any Apple Silicon Mac regardless of Rosetta 2, because Rosetta 2 translates 64-bit Intel binaries only.

Intel Mac Minimum Requirements

Photoshop CS6 operates on Intel Macs running macOS 10.7 Lion through 10.14 Mojave with a minimum of 2 GB RAM, though 4 GB is the practical floor for layer-heavy work. CS5 supports macOS 10.6 Snow Leopard through 10.13 High Sierra and requires a 64-bit Intel processor. Users on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later must use CC 2025, as no CS-series build runs on Catalina or higher.

All Versions — CC 2025, 2024, 2023, CS6 Downloads

Four Photoshop versions are available on this page, covering every macOS release from El Capitan (10.11) through Sequoia (15). Pick the version that matches your macOS. CC 2025, 2024, and 2023 all run natively on Apple Silicon. CS6 is Intel-only and requires Rosetta 2 on M-series Macs.

✅ Supported (native ARM or Intel)   ❌ Not supported. CC 2025/2024/2023 run natively on Apple Silicon (M1–M4) and Intel. CS6 is Intel-only — requires Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon Macs (auto-installed by macOS).

Photoshop CS6 — Still Usable in 2025?

Photoshop CS6 (released 2012) remains viable for core retouching and compositing workflows on Intel Macs running macOS Mojave (10.14) or earlier. CS6 supports layers, Smart Objects, Camera Raw (via a legacy plug-in), and the full Pen Tool workflow. Adobe stopped issuing security updates for CS6 in 2013, meaning the application receives no vulnerability patches.

CS6 lacks every AI-driven feature introduced since 2017: Firefly Generative Fill, Neural Filters, Content-Aware Fill (advanced diffusion model), and Sky Replacement are all absent. Users on macOS Catalina, Big Sur, Ventura, Monterey, Sonoma, or Sequoia cannot run CS6 under any configuration. For any Mac running macOS 10.15 or later, CC 2025 is the only viable option from this page.

What You Can Do With Photoshop on Mac

Adobe Photoshop CC 2025 supports six core capability areas relevant to Mac users in 2025. Adobe Firefly (the generative AI model powering Photoshop CC 2025) enables Generative Fill, Generative Expand, and text-to-image generation directly on the canvas without a subscription requirement for basic usage. Firefly Image 3 is the current model version as of CC 2025.

Is Photoshop Really Free on Mac?

Adobe Photoshop offers three acquisition paths with different cost and access structures. Adobe Inc. does not offer a permanent free version of Photoshop CC through official channels.

Legal Ways to Get Photoshop Free — Trial, Student Pricing, Express

Adobe's 7-day free trial requires a valid credit card and automatically converts to a $20.99/month Photography Plan (Photoshop plus Lightroom) at trial end unless cancelled. Student and teacher pricing reduces the full Creative Cloud suite to approximately $19.99/month with a valid .edu email address. Photoshop Express is a separate free product available on iOS and macOS web browser with no layers, no RAW support, and no desktop compositing capabilities.

Is This Download Safe?

Every DMG file on this page is scanned before publishing. Each file is checked for bundled payloads, injected installers, and modified binaries. A clean file mounts directly as a disk image and contains only the Photoshop application bundle — no wrapper, no installer adware, no background processes.

macOS performs its own verification automatically on first launch via XProtect and Gatekeeper, so no manual steps are required on your end.

Red Flags to Avoid on Other Sites

• Auto-installer executables that ask for your admin password before mounting a DMG
• Windows .exe files labeled as "Mac" downloads
• Password-protected ZIP archives with the password in an ad-supported pop-up
• Files larger than 2 GB labeled as "CS6 Portable" (no such official build exists)
• Downloads hosted on URL shorteners that redirect through multiple domains

macOS XProtect (Apple's built-in malware scanner, updated by Apple Inc. via silent system updates) runs automatically on first launch of any downloaded file and blocks known malware signatures. Gatekeeper enforces app notarisation requirements independently of XProtect.

How to Install Photoshop on Mac — Step by Step

Installing Adobe Photoshop from a DMG on macOS requires four steps. macOS Gatekeeper blocks unsigned applications by default, and Apple Silicon Macs running CS6 or CS5 trigger an additional Rosetta 2 installation prompt on first launch.

1. 1

   Download the DMG — click your version above. Safari saves the file to ~/Downloads/ by default.

2. 2

   Mount the DMG — double-click the downloaded file. A virtual disk mounts and opens a Finder window showing the Photoshop installer or application bundle.

3. 3

   Drag to Applications — drag the Photoshop icon to your /Applications folder. Do not run the application directly from the mounted disk image.

4. 4

   Allow in Gatekeeper — on first launch, macOS displays a dialog: "Adobe Photoshop cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer." Open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll to the Security section, and click Open Anyway next to the Photoshop entry.

5. 5

   Launch Photoshop — click Open in the confirmation dialog. Photoshop opens. This Gatekeeper exception is stored permanently; no repeat action is needed.

Gatekeeper — "Unidentified Developer" Warning

macOS Gatekeeper is an Apple Inc. security layer introduced in macOS Mountain Lion that restricts execution of applications lacking an Apple notarisation certificate. Downloaded DMGs from outside the Mac App Store commonly trigger this prompt. The "Open Anyway" action in System Settings grants a one-time execution exception without altering Gatekeeper's global policy for other applications. Gatekeeper does not block the application on subsequent launches after the exception is granted.

Apple Silicon — Rosetta 2 Installation Prompt

Apple Silicon Macs running Photoshop CS6 or CS5 display a system prompt on first launch: "To open Adobe Photoshop, you need to install Rosetta. Do you want to install it?" Click Install. macOS downloads and installs Rosetta 2 silently in under 60 seconds. According to Apple Inc.'s developer documentation, Rosetta 2 is a binary translation layer built into macOS Big Sur and later that converts Intel x86-64 instructions into ARM64 instructions at launch time. Photoshop CC 2025 bypasses this prompt entirely because CC 2025 is a native ARM64 binary.

Photoshop vs Free Alternatives for Mac

Four applications cover the Mac image editing market in 2025 with distinct pricing and capability profiles. Adobe Photoshop CC 2025 is the only option in this group that combines native Apple Silicon support, full PSD layer fidelity, RAW editing, and generative AI tools in a single application.

GIMP 2.10 is a free and open-source image editor that handles basic retouching, colour correction, and script-fu automation. GIMP does not preserve Photoshop layer group nesting structures reliably on round-trip import and export, and GIMP lacks any generative AI capability. Affinity Photo 2 (Serif) offers a strong one-time purchase alternative with genuine PSD compatibility and a native macOS RAW engine, but Affinity Photo 2 has no AI generative tools and no equivalent to Firefly Generative Fill. Canva operates as a browser-based design tool with no offline compositing, no RAW file support, and no full-resolution layer editing.

Frequently Asked Questions