Adobe Illustrator 2025 29.1 Here

Release Date: March 2025 (estimated)
Platform: Windows 11/macOS Ventura or later (Apple Silicon & Intel)
License Type: Creative Cloud Subscription (Individual, Teams, Enterprise)
Predecessor: Illustrator 2024 (v28.x)

For two years, Illustrator ran well on Apple Silicon but felt emulated. Version 29.1 rewrites the GPU pipeline for Metal 3. Adobe Illustrator 2025 29.1

| Feature | Illustrator 29.1 | Affinity Designer 2.5 | CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2025 | |---------|----------------|------------------------|-------------------------------| | Generative AI fill | Yes (Firefly) | No | Limited (plugin-based) | | 3D native vector design | Yes (Project Neo) | No | Yes (extrude tool) | | One-time purchase option | No | Yes | Yes | | Cloud collaboration | Yes (CC Libraries) | Limited (OneDrive) | Yes (Corel Cloud) | | macOS Apple Silicon native | Yes | Yes | No (emulation) | For two years, Illustrator ran well on Apple

Adobe listened to the User Voice forum. Version 29.1 squashes 40+ bugs. Here are the top 5 fixes: Adobe listened to the User Voice forum

Stability rating: In internal testing, Illustrator 29.1 crashed 70% less than v28.6 over an 8-hour workday.

Do not panic. While the M4 optimizations are exclusive to Apple, Intel users on high-end NVIDIA RTX cards (Studio Driver 555+) see a 25% improvement in viewport panning and zoom due to a rewritten OpenGL fallback.

The takeaway: If you are still on an Intel Mac, version 29.1 is stable, but the magic requires Apple Silicon.