V10.4.0 — Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 2021

Honesty requires addressing what you cannot do in v10.4.0:

If you need any of the above, consider upgrading. But if your work is portrait, product, or landscape photography without heavy AI reliance, you likely won't miss them.

It might seem counterintuitive to use a 2021 version in 2025 or later. However, many working photographers intentionally stay on v10.4.0. Here’s why: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 2021 v10.4.0

For studio photographers, tethered shooting is non-negotiable. v10.4.0 added:

The single most important aspect of v10.4.0 was its native support for Apple’s M1 chip. Earlier versions of Lightroom Classic ran on M1 Macs via Apple’s Rosetta 2 emulation layer. With v10.4.0, Adobe delivered a universal binary. Honesty requires addressing what you cannot do in v10

Real-world benefits included:

For photographers who had recently switched to the M1 Mac mini or MacBook Pro, v10.4.0 was a revelation. If you need any of the above, consider upgrading

One of the standout capabilities integrated into the 2021 release cycle, including v10.4.0, is the Super Resolution feature found within the "Enhance" dialog.

Powered by Adobe’s machine learning engine, Adobe Sensei, Super Resolution allows photographers to quadruple the resolution of an image.