Since Apple has now told us that they plan on starting to phase out Rosetta 2 with macOS 28 that means come 2027, we need to start getting serious about either VMs or Apple silicon native apps. For me that essentially boils down to FileMaker Pro 16. I have plenty of older Intel Macs I can play old games on (if I ever find the time), but it’s my own productivity apps, especially my own databases that I’ve been curating since the 90s that I need to worry about.
So, what in 2025 are the least expensive ways to get a native Apple silicon FileMaker Pro license if you’re purchasing not as a business, but as just a private citizen?
There’s been threads on updating older versions of FMP (like this or that) and even on developments toward a supposedly free FMP license, but all of that feels a bit stale by now. So what’s the lay of the land in 2025? Is it really $625 for FMP 2024 (or $374 for upgrading from FMP 16 or newer) or bust?
FWIW, my installation of FMP 19 (purchased and installed in 2020) is universal, so I expect it to keep working.
I don’t know if it will be possible to buy version 19 today. I see old Amazon listings for $150 (for a CD-ROM), but they are old and all indicate that there is no availability at this time.
My annoyance with this announcement is Photoshop Elements. It’s not expensive, but Adobe has done away with perpetual licenses. So when I buy a new copy (whenever that may be), it will expire after three years. (Adobe insists that this isn’t a subscription, but if the software expires, then it is a rental, not a purchase even if you don’t have an ongoing payment schedule.)
I’ve considered migrating from FileMaker to other products for a long time. Unfortunately, none are as easy to use. And I don’t think there is a mechanism to migrate a database to something else that will preserve binary object field data (I use embedded images in several of my databases) and multi-value fields.
So, assuming I can find a suitable replacement, migrating to it is going to require custom AppleScript work, since there doesn’t seem to be a way to just export/import the data.
Uh, I’d just keep going until 2027 and beyond until there’s some reason you absolutely need to upgrade. I bet you can get to 2030 before it’s a real issue.
Like Libre Office (as an alternative to MS Office) I guess we should look out for (hope for) an open access community that will develop software that will enable us to keep using and working on “old” FMP databases.
Regarding MS Access, my disgust for that product was one of the reasons I moved to Mac and FMP: https://www.vdrsyd.com/aoaug/ms_dig.html#access2
Depends on what version you’ve got today. According to Wikipedia, Apple Silicon support was introduced in version 19.3.2 (July 2021). If you’ve got an installation of 18 or older, then it will break when Rosetta goes away.
It’s been a long time since I worked with Access, but the last time I looked, it is a GUI wrapper around an SQL engine. Not (conceptually) any different any other SQL-based solution, including LibreOffice Base (which can connect to external open source database systems like MariaDB, MySQL or Postgress).
Without commenting on that specific solution, I will say that I’ve been delighted by the performance of Windows Intel apps running on my M1 MacBook Air via the ARM version of Windows 11 using Parallels workstation.
I have a moderately complex database running in a custom-coded, in-house application using that method, and it works extremely well.
Not if you don’t upgrade your OS to the Rosetta-less version. If you’re on an earlier version of FMP anyway, why do you need to upgrade to the most modern Mac OS? Just stay with what works until it becomes actually problematic in some way.
That’s great if you can dedicate one computer for each app. The rest of us don’t want to forgo all future system upgrades in order to avoid paying to upgrade one application.
Enough. We’re not going to debate if you upgrade or not. The premise of this specific thread is that FMP needs to be upgraded every once in a while to keep up with an evolving macOS. Anybody who doesn’t have FMP 19 or newer (as @shaminopointed out) needs to upgrade at the latest once Rosetta is no longer available. That is what my thread is about (since I still have FMP 16 I very much fall into that camp). If you don’t like it, that’s fine — you’re welcome to stay out and start your own thread. But don’t crap up this one.
“Stale” is a good description. I’d love to hear from anyone in the FMP inner circle who knows if this proposal is dead in the water, on the back burner, or “coming soon.” When it first came out, I was really hopeful.
I don’t think there’s a simple solution other than what you’re doing - keeping an old machine to run it.
When FMP 19 came out I bit the bullet and updated from FMP 17 as I was fearful I would be forced into a subscription. I have 19.6.3 happily running on my 2021 M1 Max MBP and have no intention of updating unless it breaks. I would NOT update if I was forced to a subscription - I’d rather retire my current machine to run FMP 19 and put the subscription money towards a new machine.
My only use of FMP now is for tracking my contract and rental income, business expenses and depreciation. It’s a reasonably complex solution which I wouldn’t like to rewrite from scratch with a database backend and XOJO or similar. It could be done - but the investment in time would be way more than the cost of an FMP license.
Being retired now I’d hoped the freemium version would arrive as I’m definitely a one man show with no need for networking or sharing. It would be a perfect solution for me but it’s now looking like vapourware.
Take a look at Serif’s Affinity Suite, and Affinity Photo 2 in particular (Best Photo Editing Software | Affinity Photo).
I was in a similar dilemma when finally moving to a new Mac mini earlier this year, and I had to say bye to my perpetual licence of Adobe Creative Suite 5. Unless you’re a power user, Photo 2 is a more than adequate replacement, which you should be able to pick up for less than $100 (for a perpetual licence )
A friend just bought Photoshop Elements 2025 for his new Macbook Pro. It required him to download Rosetta. I wonder if Adobe will do anything to allow it to keep working for the full three years, or if they will say, just don’t upgrade to macOS 28.
A nice price. One thing I love about Photoshop Elements (and I assume Photoshop CS as well) is that it integrates very closely with my scanner software (SilverFast). More specifically, SilverFast ships with a Photoshop plugin that also works with Elements.
With this plugin, I can tell PSE to launch SilverFast, and the results of the scan will go directly into a new PSE document. I can then make my edits and copy/paste the results (typically into a FileMaker database) without needing to save anything to the file system.
I haven’t seen any other image editor that offers this kind of integration, which is one of the reasons why I stick with PSE and haven’t switched to something else (like GraphicConverter or an open source package). Do you know if Affinity can do this? Having to scan to a file and then edit that file is an extra step I’d rather avoid if possible.
Wow. Do you know if the app is Intel-based, or if it’s just the installer? If you do a get-info on the app’s icon, does it say “Intel”, “Apple silicon” or “Universal”.
Here are examples of each. My Photoshop Elements 2021 is Intel. My Python system (via MacPorts) is Apple silicon. Apple’s Music is Universal:
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