DXO PureRaw in a MacBook Pro M2 (Update: Ended to be a M3!)

[ctitanic]

Hi citanic, what PC/Mac are you currently using? You can get a processing comparison online to get an idea of performance difference. I went back to a desktop for processing WAY faster than my laptops. That said, I am not a Mac user, purely Windows.

I was using a Dell 7200 i7 Tablet: Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1185G7 @ 3.00GHz, 1805 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s) and now I'm using a MacBook Air M3 with 16 Gb Memory. I was a Windows user for more than 25 years or so and I hate to use Desktops. I use mostly laptops and my best desk is my bed on front of our bedroom TV. That said. The MacBook Air is giving me the best performance ever from any of my previous and current laptops. The grade of optimization Apple have got in their M series chips is just unbelievable. To get such performance in an Intel Laptop you need to spend few $1000s while I paid less than $800s for my M3 Macbook Air.

 

[ctitanic]

Interesting. One thing thing about me. I'm really good at taking things apart. Sometimes not so good putting it back together again. Not often but it happens.

If I were to do something like I'd wait until the warranty expired. If it failed for some other reason you'd want to remove that before it goes in. You know how to those little screws can be. Any evidence of tampering could void the warranty. I found techs can be pretty good about these things but you never know.

Well, Opening the Macbook Air is a pain in the neck. But I'm not good opening or closing things. But I went today and did it. Adding the thermal pads is something that help dissipating some of the heat that makes the Macbook Airs to thermal throttle. From all the videos that I have researched, the thermal throttle in these machines could reach about %50 of the normal capacity when doing intensive and long task. With this hack the performance is only reduced about 20% or so. So you can expect to see or notice a better overall performance.

On this video you can see a before and after comparison.

- YouTube

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In my specific case, I have not had the chance to do a before and after comparison. What I noticed is that in my current workflow I take hundreds of CR3 pictures and process all of them using DXO Pureraw and then do the final editing in LrC. The process of "cleaning" 600 pictures take about 1 hour and I think that it takes that long because of the thermal throttle. What I'm expecting to see and get is about 20 minutes less when processing 600 pictures.

After applying the thermal pads I processed a 15 minutes video and I noticed that the macbook air was not that hot like it was used to be before in this type of process. Unfortunately I do not have myself any before and after comparison. I have to go by what I saw from other users applying this fix. I do not expect miracles but come on, this is a $8 dollars hack that took me 15 minutes to apply so... to me it's a win win situation even if it's a little gain.

Could I live without it? Oh Yes, basically the Macbook Air is giving me an overall performance gain vs my old laptop of about %50 in time. I could not edit any videos in my old Intel Laptop (the process was taken hours) and now I'm editing some short videos (and it takes minutes). Editing pictures is not a very intensive process if you are editing them one by one. Denoising in LrC is one of the longest process and now it takes between 30 to 45 seconds comparing to 5 minutes in the Intel laptop. Even 1 minute, that's not long enough to trigger the thermal throttle. So I'm super but super happy with this investment even without the thermal pad hack.

 

[Only RF]

I don't have the Luna Display yet. It cleared customs so it's in Canada any day now. I contacted Luna Display support over the weekend and I got an email this morning. Prompt and well explained. A few things could not find on their support pages, which I probably missed.

I figured the Luna Display should be plugged into the Thunderbolt port, not the standard one. Yes to that.

I was not sure what to set Lock Screen - screen saver and turn display off when inactive to "on the iMac". I thought that it may interfere. It could so they recommend to set both of those to Never.

Well, Opening the Macbook Air is a pain in the neck. But I'm not good opening or closing things. But I went today and did it. Adding the thermal pads is something that help dissipating some of the heat that makes the Macbook Airs to thermal throttle. From all the videos that I have researched, the thermal throttle in these machines could reach about %50 of the normal capacity when doing intensive and long task. With this hack the performance is only reduced about 20% or so. So you can expect to see or notice a better overall performance.

On this video you can see a before and after comparison.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

In my specific case, I have not had the chance to do a before and after comparison. What I noticed is that in my current workflow I take hundreds of CR3 pictures and process all of them using DXO Pureraw and then do the final editing in LrC. The process of "cleaning" 600 pictures take about 1 hour and I think that it takes that long because of the thermal throttle. What I'm expecting to see and get is about 20 minutes less when processing 600 pictures.

After applying the thermal pads I processed a 15 minutes video and I noticed that the macbook air was not that hot like it was used to be before in this type of process. Unfortunately I do not have myself any before and after comparison. I have to go by what I saw from other users applying this fix. I do not expect miracles but come on, this is a $8 dollars hack that took me 15 minutes to apply so... to me it's a win win situation even if it's a little gain.

Could I live without it? Oh Yes, basically the Macbook Air is giving me an overall performance gain vs my old laptop of about %50 in time. I could not edit any videos in my old Intel Laptop (the process was taken hours) and now I'm editing some short videos (and it takes minutes). Editing pictures is not a very intensive process if you are editing them one by one. Denoising in LrC is one of the longest process and now it takes between 30 to 45 seconds comparing to 5 minutes in the Intel laptop. Even 1 minute, that's not long enough to trigger the thermal throttle. So I'm super but super happy with this investment even without the thermal pad hack.

Great news. I'm sure looking forward to the Mini M4 with 32GB RAM. I'm thrilled with my MacBook Air M3 with 24GB RAM. Mini has more cores.

 

[ctitanic]

If I were to do something like I'd wait until the warranty expired.

These pads are easy to be removed without leaving any tracks that you were there. The Macbook Air aluminum case helps with that. It's not like other laptops where opening them leave tracks in the soft plastic case.

 

[Only RF]

These pads are easy to be removed without leaving any tracks that you were there. The Macbook Air aluminum case helps with that. It's not like other laptops where opening them leave tracks in the soft plastic case.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Only RF]

Thread 'Review - Using iMac as a monitor with Luna Display'

May 16, 2025

I was not sure if this is the right forum.

I decided to get a Mac Mini M4 but I didn't want to spend the money on Apples Display. I may look into a 3rd party monitor in the late fall. I looked at several options and decided to try Luna Display which arrived yesterday.

https://astropad.com/product/lunadisplay/

You need a second monitor to set up things up so I used a very old 42" TV which I keep around as a back up. I connected it to the mini by HDMI. It takes a bit of setting up and at first found it a bit frustrating. I decided to go with an Ethernet...

• Only RF
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Editing / Post-Processing

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