Dropbox has finally begun testing a native version of its Mac app with Apple silicon support, following widespread criticism from customers and users who initially thought it had no plans to take advantage of the latest Macs powered by Apple's custom processors.
In October, official responses to comments on the Dropbox forums suggested Dropbox had no plans to add support for Apple silicon Macs to its Mac app, continuing to rely on Apple's Rosetta 2 technology to translate the Intel-based app on newer Mac machines. The forum thread received widespread criticism from irritated Mac users, eventually leading to the company's CEO stepping in to say that Dropbox would adopt native Apple silicon support in the first half of 2022.
Now, one week into the new year, Dropbox is seemingly fulfilling its promise. Dropbox has told MacRumors that it has begun testing native Apple silicon support with a small batch of its Mac user base and that it plans to offer all users who run the beta of its Mac app native Apple silicon support by the end of January.
Compared to apps specifically optimized and tested for Apple silicon, Intel-based apps on new Mac machines occasionally run slower, make little use of Apple silicon's performance gains and power efficiency, and may not function correctly. While Apple's Rosetta 2 technology works for most users, apps for Apple silicon typically run better, are more power-efficient, and more likely to provide a better user experience than Intel-based apps on newer Mac laptops and desktops.
Dropbox does not have the best reputation amongst Mac users for being friendly to system resources and is often criticized for being a memory hog and battery drain. On newer Macs, such as the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, Dropbox with native Apple silicon support should allay some of that criticism, as it should run smoother and be less demanding.
Dropbox's poor performance on Mac has pushed some users to move to third-party clients that support Dropbox syncing. With Dropbox planning to give all of its beta users access to its native Apple silicon app by the end of the month, an official rollout can be expected shortly after and well within the first half of 2022, as previously promised by the company's CEO.
