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2022 Mac Studio M1 Ultra: Convert RAW Files to JPEG With Adobe Camera Raw (Fujifilm GFX100, Fujifilm GFX50S)
Related: 2019 iMac 5K, 2019 Mac Pro, 2020 iMac 5K, 4K and 5K display, Adobe Camera Raw, Apple Mac Studio, Apple Silicon, Fujifilm GFX100, Fujifilm GFX50S, Fujifilm medium format, iMac, iMac 5K, Mac Pro, Macs, medium format, Photoshop
Unsure which Mac to get or how to configure it? Consult with Lloyd, and see recommended Macs for photographers and videographers.
MPG tested the $7999 Apple Mac Studio M1 Ultra 20-core CPU / 64-core GPU/ 128GB / 8TB SSD , provided on loan for review by B&H Photo, an authorized Apple Mac dealer. Please buy your gear at B&H Photo and OWC/MacSales.com using any link from this site.
About
This test is a real-world task relevant to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom: batch convert raw files to JPEG.
Disk I/O is not a significant factor, the files being small relative to the workload, and on the fast internal SSD.
If below are out of date: view current Mac wishlist and all current OWC wishlists.
Raw file conversion to JPEG — 100-megapixel Fujifilm GFX100 RAW/RAF and GFX50S RAW/RAF
See the test notes for details on hardware configuration and software versions.
Camera RAW file conversion is an area where the Mac Studio M1 Ultra shines, beating out all other Macs.
Chewing through monster 100-megapixel Fujifilm GFX100 raw files in about 7/10 second each. Handily beating-out the 28-core 2019 Mac Pro, which takes 32% longer.
Adobe has improved raw file conversion considerably since early 2022. That is evident in the very slow results from the 2019 iMac 5K running Photoshop CC 2021 v22.5.8.
Memory usage, GFX100: MacStudio: 20GB, MacPro: 31GB, iMac5K: 16GB
Memory usage, GFX50: MacStudio: 14GB, MacPro: 17GB, iMac5K: 16GB

2022 Mac Studio M1 Ultra, 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Max, 2019 iMac 5K, 2019 Mac Pro 28-core

Apple 16.2" MacBook Pro with M1 Max Chip (Late 2021, Space Gray)
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