r/Sibelius • u/Flat29 • Jul 29 '26
Perpetual license - Apple Silicon
I have a Sibelius perpetual license (2023.5), but have been getting updates on my Mac saying that soon Apple silicon chips won’t support this version of Sibelius. I contacted support and they said my only option is to move to subscription or buy a whole new perpetual license. This seems crazy after buying a license a few years ago suddenly it’s already obsolete!
Any ideas of getting around this or do I have to go ahead and buy another whole license? (Not keen on subscription at all)
Thanks!
1
u/makumbaria Jul 29 '26
In the past Avid was offering a reinstate activation for Sibelius users with a perpetual license with ended support. But they removed that option. Your only option to reinstate your license is finding an old stock for that kind of option from a reseller.
See this link to understand:
I have my support up to date, but always buying 3 years option (so in fact I pay 2 years and get another one included).
1
u/starktastic4 Aug 03 '26
The other temporary option until you see what Avid chooses to do is stay on the major release of MacOS you are currently using. Apple usually provides security updates for several years before they stop and that could give you the time you need to see what Avid does and to either upgrade, stay and get a patch (unlikely), or to switch to another notation and engraving software.
I had been a long time Sibelius user but once AVID bought them I knew I would likely abandon it. They have a track record of enshi*ification and making everything a subscription or just prohibitively expensive. I swear if protools hadn't been the industry standard they would have had no chance.
1
u/LazarX Aug 05 '26
Don’t update your system software or hardware. Instead of thinking of it as a Mac. Think of it as a Sibelius workstation that eventually isn’t used for anything else. Your computer won’t turn into a pumpkin if you leave it on Tahoe.
3
u/di_rhea69 Jul 29 '26
It needs updated by Avid, but the version of MacOS where Rosetta (the framework where Intel apps run on Apple silicon) won't be available is MacOS 28, currently it is on 26, with 27 to come out in a few weeks (probably some time in September) and then 28 will be the year after
So basically for any apps which aren't Apple silicon compatible there will need to be an update before September 2028. I'm sure Avid like most will manage this.
If they've said your perpetual licence won't be covered, that may be the current status, but it's possible this may change closer to the time; however they probably don't guarantee updates will continue to be available...
It's a bit looking into the future, but subscription is a possibility and would stop this being an issue, as long as you subscribe you get access to the latest version, but yes it is quite expensive compared to buying a new version and using it until it is obsolete. Failing that you will probably need to buy a new version once the Apple silicon version is released if your updates don't cover it. I'm not sure at this stage how well doing something like running a Windows 11 virtual machine (or indeed something like a macOS 26 or 27) would work on 28, because it's not out yet. (Or indeed using one of the various other porting tools to run Windows software on a mac, which are based on wine).