joeyluck wrote: β12 Feb 2023
Reason has supported M1 since Reason 9.5.
Y'all are probably just looking in the wrong place...
Reason M1 support.png
People are asking for
M1 Native Support, so that they don't have to depend on Rosetta 2, which increases CPU and Memory Usage/Swapping, Thermals and decreases Performance.
Also, anything that isn't M1 Native has Planned Obsolescence built-into it de facto, which is why it was such a big deal that competitors were quick in moving to M1 Native (e.g. Studio One) It meant their users didn't have to pay a massive tax just to get an update that didn't turn their DAW into vaporware. Anything between Reason 9 and 11 is effectively vaporware, at this point. Once Rosetta is gone, you're going to be SoL unless you stop upgrading your OS and don't buy a new Mac (which will ship with the latest OS, unless you buy VERY close to release date).
Rosetta 2 is not "here to stay," and I'd expect Apple to pull it out of macOS after the next release. I wouldn't even be surprised if it gets pulled out in the next macOS release. I reckon Reason Studios is okay not releasing a Reason 13, because they are aware that Rosetta is likely to go away soon, and will be able to make up for any "excitement sales" from a new major version release with upgrade sales from users who are still on older versions of the DAW who will have no choice but to pay up if they want to run an up-to-date macOS operating system.
Additionally, that only works for DAWs that host plug-ins out-of-process in Rosetta 2 (Logic Pro, Bitwig Studio) - ignoring the fact that many plug-ins can be buggy when hosted this way. Those that do not simply cannot use the Reason Rack Plug-in unless you significantly nerf your entire production chain and run the host DAW under Rosetta 2 as well.
This means anything that isn't at least Reason 12 (coming Soonβ’) will be 100% incompatible on new Macs that ship with a version of macOS that do not support Rosetta 2. Anyone on older versions will have to think about upgrading, unless they move to Windows to continue using the older version. That, or they can continue to use their older Mac and stop upgrading macOS itself.
I have a MBP, but I also have a Windows Desktop and Notebook, so I haven't really felt a huge amount of "pressure," though I am pretty close to removing Reason and considering it a "write off." They seem to be the absolute slowest developers in the DAW space, and I'd rather build my workflow and toolset around developers that are a bit more agile, responsive, and logical in their project management and development planning and delivery. You'd think Reason was a 1 man shop with the way they are progressing things. I can't see myself ever investing further in upgrades, or even Rack Extensions. I've really decreased my usage of it, accordingly.