M-series MacBook Pros chew through PDFs like they're text files. The hardware isn't the bottleneck — software is. Acrobat costs £15/month and runs background services you didn't ask for. Preview can't edit text.
There's a third option.
Browser editing on a Pro
Flint in Safari or Chrome on a MacBook Pro is essentially instant — open, edit, download. The M-series chips handle the canvas rendering, text layout, and save operations without breaking stride. Large PDFs (200+ pages, hundreds of MB) load fast enough to feel native.
Multi-monitor flows
If you're docked to an external display, drop Flint full-screen on one monitor and the source email or Drive folder on the other. Drag PDFs across. Saved files go to Downloads on the Mac itself, regardless of which monitor Safari is on.
Heavy PDF jobs
MacBook Pros handle the bigger PDF jobs cleanly — batch merges, splitting long documents, compressing hundred-page scans. Flint's processing happens in-browser; the Pro's CPU does the work. Compare with Acrobat where you wait the same time but pay £180/year for the privilege.
FAQ
Is Flint as fast as Acrobat on M-series?
For everyday editing, yes — within a fraction of a second of native performance. Acrobat's edge is on very large enterprise PDFs (forms with calculations, batch redaction) where its native code wins. For 95% of PDF work, you won't notice a difference.
Does Flint use the Pro's Neural Engine?
Standard browser APIs use the Neural Engine for image processing where the OS routes it. Flint benefits indirectly — text rendering and image compression run on whatever Apple Silicon makes them fastest.
Can I keep Acrobat and use Flint too?
Yes. They don't conflict. Some Mac users keep Acrobat for one or two specialised tasks (form filling with calculations, batch redaction) and use Flint for everything else — saving the Acrobat seat for what only Acrobat does.
Use the Pro's speed without paying Adobe. Edit in Safari.