Photo Mechanic Universal Binary Beta 2

[ahoward]

The team at Camera Bits is happy to announce that the long-awaited “universal binary” build of Photo Mechanic and Photo Mechanic Plus for macOS is now available for testing as a limited public beta. This is the rewritten build of Photo Mechanic that is so-called “Apple Silicon native” and does not require emulation to run on the speedy M1, M2, M3, etc. family of processors in newer Apple computers.

Requirements
This limited public beta is available to everyone. If you have a current subscription license for Photo Mechanic or Photo Mechanic Plus or a perpetual license purchased after 11 March 2024, it will work on any computer where you have activated your license. The same is true for anyone who starts the 14-day free trial.

If you would prefer to not sign up for the trial, but would like to beta test, please see the reply to this thread for how to access the beta.

The beta build requires macOS 13 Ventura or newer. While it is now Apple-silicon native, it will also run on Intel-based Macs.

Use at your own risk
As this is a beta, we strongly recommend only using it on copies of files and not originals. And, we also do not recommend using any beta software for mission-critical projects or if on a deadline. The Beta can be placed in a sub-folder of the macOS Applications folder so that you can keep your production instance of PM installed at the same time, though they can not both be running at the same time.

To repeat: Use at your own risk
The beta has undergone some internal testing but there is no guarantee of functionality or safety. Do not use the beta on files that you haven’t backed up. Do not use the beta if you’re on a deadline.

The beta build will expire, i.e. stop running, at the end of July 2024.

This project has taken significant work for Camera Bits developers, as it was not simply a matter of recompiling source code for the newer processors. Large sections of code had to be rewritten from the ground up and meticulously tested to make sure they matched the high standards of the current Photo Mechanic program. We were able to make some meaningful performance optimizations along the way and will continue to look for opportunities for further optimization. Part of this work included integrating the built-in Raw rendering of Apple's ImageIO.

You can add feedback or comments to this post or via normal customer support channels listed here:  https://docs.camerabits.com/support/tickets/new

Download the Universal Binary Beta here:

https://www.camerabits.com/download/PhotoMechanicR7701_8b9eb9cd.dmg

Changes in Beta 2:

• Fixed: The "Built-in Renderer" was not able to be selected after checking the box for "Enable RAW Rendering" in the "Render Cache" section of Photo Mechanic's Preferences
  

[ahoward]

The beta requires a license created under our new licensing system. However, we do want as much feedback as possible about this beta, as we know that folks will always find a way to use Photo Mechanic in ways that our test cases may not cover. As noted, if you already have a monthly or yearly subscription or a recent perpetual license, your license will work to activate the beta.

If you'd like to test the beta before subscribing or making a purchase, you can of course still use the free trial option, but if you'd prefer to not do that, you can activate the following license key: FM8M-EATQ-KYZA-J6PM

When you launch the beta version, you will be prompted to "Buy" or "Activate". Choose "Activate" and copy and paste the key into the License Key field, and then choose "Activate" in that window.

This beta will run until July 31, 2024. If we feel that the beta needs more testing, or we identify bugs that need to be corrected, we may post a new beta or new key on or before that date.

Installing the beta version of Photo Mechanic will not interfere with your currently installed older version of Photo Mechanic. However, we recommend backing up your preferences before running the beta.