As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases @AMAZON
2022 Mac Studio M1 Ultra: Convert RAW Files to JPEG With Adobe Camera Raw (Sony A7R IV)
Related: 2019 iMac 5K, 2019 Mac Pro, 2020 iMac 5K, 4K and 5K display, Adobe Camera Raw, Apple Mac Studio, Apple Silicon, iMac, iMac 5K, Mac Pro, Macs, Photoshop, Sony A7R, Sony A7R II, Sony A7R III, Sony A7R IV, video
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 Adobe 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If below are out of date: view current Mac wishlist and all current OWC wishlists.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 — 60-megapixel Sony A7R IV raw files
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 60-megapixel Sony A7R IV raw files in about 0.35 second each. WOW! Handily beating-out the 28-core 2019 Mac Pro, which takes a whopping 54% 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.

