2023 Mac Pro M2 Ultra: Image Scaling, Topaz Gigapixel AI

2023-07-17 • SEND FEEDBACK •
Related: 2019 iMac 5K, 2019 Mac Pro, 4K and 5K display, Apple 2023 Mac Pro M2 Ultra, Apple Silicon, Artificial Intelligence, focus stacking, GPU, iMac, iMac 5K, image scaling, laptop, Mac Pro, MacBook, Macs, Other World Computing, Topaz Labs, Topaz Labs Gigapixel AI, video tech

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Consult with Lloyd, to design a complete system for photography or similar including backup and data safety

MPG tested the Apple Mac Pro with M2 Ultra #Z171000US 192GB/4TB/60GPU. 76 GPU/8TB SSD are options.

Consult with Lloyd to design a complete system for photography or similar including backup and data safety.

About

2019 iMac 5K

Topaz Labs'Topaz Gigapixel AI does computationally intensive high-grade image scaling using either CPU or GPU. Highly recommended for photographers looking to take any image to a far larger and higher quality size; the results are jaw dropping.

This tests scales a 60-megapixel (9552 X 6360) image 2X linearly to a 240 megapixel (19104 X 12720) image.

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CLICK TO VIEW: Recommended Accessories and Storage

CLICK TO VIEW: Recommended M2 Ultra and M2 Max

Results

See the image scaling settings.

The Intel machines are far behind in the dust. But while they are 4-year-old technology, the video card in the Mac Pro was the fastest and most expensive one back in early 2020 (AMD Radeon Pro Vega II 32 GB). Still, even if video speed doubled, it would still lag badly.

Disappointing is that Mac Pro M2 Ultra can barely outperform the 2022 MacBook Pro M2 Max, suggesting a bottleneck in using the available computing power. Perhaps a software update will rectify this—an inquiry is in progress with Topaz Labs.

*** See test notes discussing 2019 Mac Pro and 2022 MacBook Pro M2 Max results.

2023 Mac Pro: image scaling with Topaz Gigapixel AI

2023 Mac Pro M2 Ultra