Apple MacBook Air M1 and Lightroom: A New Era of Image Enhancement

The latest update to Adobe Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC has brought significant improvements to image enhancement, thanks to the addition of Super Resolution. This feature was previously only available in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), but now it's accessible in both versions of Lightroom.

One of the key benefits of the new Super Resolution feature is its ability to work identically to the previous ACR-only version. This means that users can expect the same high-quality image enhancement as before, with the added convenience of having this option available in their preferred editing software.

But how does the M1-optimized version of Lightroom Classic compare to a more high-end Intel MacBook? To answer this question, PetaPixel recently conducted a series of benchmarks to test the performance of both machines. The results were impressive, with the M1-optimized machine coming out on top in several tests.

In one benchmark, the M1-optimized machine was able to complete a task 74 percent faster than its Intel counterpart. This involved increasing the resolution of a 12-megapixel image using the Super Resolution feature, and the M1-optimized software completed this task in just 9.6 seconds, compared to 36.4 seconds for the Intel machine.

Another benchmark tested the ability of each machine to synchronize color adjustments across 1000 images. Here again, the M1-optimized machine proved to be significantly faster, completing this task in just six minutes and 13 seconds, compared to 13 minutes and 33 seconds for the Intel system.

Additional benchmarks were conducted to test the performance of both machines in exporting RAW photos as JPEGs at high quality and importing large numbers of images. In each of these tests, the M1-optimized machine proved to be faster than its Intel counterpart, with the M1 version completing tasks such as exporting 1000 RAW photos in just 28.9 seconds, compared to 52.8 seconds for the Intel system.

While some may question the accuracy of the percentages mentioned in PetaPixel's original report, it is clear that the M1-optimized version of Lightroom Classic offers significant performance improvements over its Intel counterpart. For users who value speed and efficiency when editing their images, this update to Lightroom is certainly worth exploring.

Apple macbook air m1 lightroom