Apple Silicon (M1) Desktop Sync Compatibility

[_robin_]

Please can you upgrade the Dropbox app so that it works natively on Apple Silicon Macs (M1) without Rosetta.

Rosetta is not an option as it annihilates the battery.

This may be a duplicate of the below idea however that started for ARM processors in general and you haven't looked at it in 6 years so starting an Apple specific idea in the hope you see it.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-ideas/Desktop-app-with-syncing-for-devices-with-ARM-processo...

There are also lots of comments on this thread to help support the case for demand: 

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-installs-integrations/Dropbox-Apple-Silicon-M1-install/td-p/... 

[faebe]

I'd like to extend this request to discontinue using deprecated kernel extensions and instead base the new version on Apple’s new File Provider framework for MacOS:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/fileprovider 

Microsoft recently announced a similar move for OneDrive:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-onedrive-blog/microsoft-works-to-ensure-a-great-one...

[xmetal]

Agreed, while Dropbox does operate under Rosetta without bugs, the power and ram resources required are silly. With dropbox running I cannot get anywhere near the expected battery life with casual use. Quit Dropbox and we get back to some semblance of normalcy.

Come on now, I pay for this service, it's not freeware done by one dude at home, this should have been ready for M1 long ago.

[Megan]

This idea is going to need a bit more support before we share your suggestion with our team. 

We’ve updated the status to encourage more users to back you up! 

Latest update as of Jan 2022: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-installs-integrations/Apple-Silicon-M1-Desktop-Sync-Compatib...

[Wvp]

Needs more votes to at least be considered?

That is strange... is Dropbox going to wait until it just does not work anymore on MacOS (like they did last year). I cannot possibly believe the development-team is living in a cave and denying the architecture change from Apple 😆. Do they even know that Rosetta 2, which is used as a temporary compatibility layer is just that: "a temporary compatibility layer" provided by Apple to give developers some time to port over to the new architecture, user should not need to vote to get this in the developers agenda!

[csdolby]

May be worth voting for this too, as it's about ARM processors in general.

Hopefully some of the code would be reusable, and it's got 10 times the votes.

Edit: I see that was the suggestion on the original post!

[Grant6]

> This idea is going to need a bit more support before we share your suggestion with our team.

This attitude concerns me. I understand the need to prioritize work based on customer demand, and that Apple has cushioned the transition to the M1 chip, but the underlying reality is that Apple's entire MacBook lineup is now running on the M1 chip, meaning that any Mac app not running on that architecture is running on borrowed time. Engineers and power users will bring it up first (e.g. this "suggestion" and similar forum posts) and start making recommendations to their bosses and clients. Apple will make more OS changes to support their new File Provider API. But by the time an Enterprise client brings it up, it will be because the 5000 Macs they are upgrading won't run Dropbox any more, leaving them scrambling to find a solution and Dropbox scrambling to fix something with so much technical debt that they won't be able to fast enough. But, more likely, the aforementioned engineers and power users will take preemptive measures to avoid that embarrassing situation and keep a cautious eye out for a change in Dropbox or for other file storage/sync solutions that support current hardware.

[Marc A.6]

@Grant6 

They're disconnected from reality. This comment really nailed it for me:

> This idea is going to need a bit more support before we share your suggestion with our team.

Dropbox has jumped the shark a long time ago. Because of their blatant disregard for Apple Silicon users, I've stopped paying: I'm keeping my terabytes of data as a free read-only storage, and I've already started migrating to a different solution.
Interestingly, many of my personal and business contacts have jumped ship already, so I'm not even hampered in my efforts, as literally nobody is asking me to share via Dropbox anymore.

I'm sure there are excellent engineers stuck in a job where they have to satisfy the requirements of a totally derailed management which is more interested in the appropriate colors for their corporate image, than listening to what users are asking.

This is how ships sink.

[Wvp]

@Grant6 Although I do not think the Dropbox engineers are unaware of Apple Silicon, I agree with you on this. Ignoring Apple Silicon and handling this as a 'feature request' is a bit strange at least.

But this also happens with other requests at Dropbox. Like for example Dark Mode which is not a mandatory thing to have, but Dropbox is the ONLY application on my system that does not have a Dark Mode. Dropbox is also the ONLY application I personally that does not have a Universal binary for Apple Silicon.

At least OneDrive announced this is coming, Dropbox keeps silent...

[lukeyo]

@_robin_ this is a great suggestion, thank you for raising it here.

Definitely key functionality you're requesting here, lets hope it happens soon.

L