was a pivotal maintenance update released in November 2020 . While it didn't introduce flashy new design tools, it was architecturally significant because it brought native support for Apple Silicon (M1 chips) and full compatibility with macOS Big Sur .
Better handling of complex shape combinations (Add, Subtract, Intersect). ✅ Pros and ❌ Cons The Good
Exporting complex effects to .PSD or .AI formats sometimes leads to flattened layers or loss of editability. Affinity Designer 1.8.6
Handles zoom levels up to 1,000,000% with extreme precision. The Bad
Unlike Illustrator, version 1.8.6 lacked a built-in "Image Trace" tool for converting photos to vectors. was a pivotal maintenance update released in November 2020
One of the first professional creative apps to run natively on the M1 chip, offering massive speed gains over Intel-based versions.
Even on older hardware, the app is remarkably lightweight compared to Illustrator. ✅ Pros and ❌ Cons The Good Exporting
8GB RAM recommended; DirectX 10 compatible GPU for Windows; Metal-capable GPU for Mac. 💡 Verdict: Is it still relevant?