15.3 is the business!

[mstrathmore]

Lightroom Version Number

15.3

Operating System

1. macOS 15 Sequoia

Just came here to say that I've been very impressed with the speed improvements in 15.3 on my Mac!

I'm running an old 2019 Intel iMac, and Lr has been getting progressively slower over time; I get it, LrC is a fundamentally different application now to what it was back when my iMac was new. To say the current experience is sub-optimal is an understatement: denoising even 100 photos is an overnight affair, and sometimes when I select objects, the green outline appears seconds after I traced the area I want to select.

The 15.3 update has given this old dog a new lease of life! It seems almost everything is significantly faster: from multiple "select objects" in a mask, to sliders moving much more smoothly (and the resultant changes being seen on screen much quicker), to things like "update AI masks" happening probably 30% faster (and in the background). Literally everything seems snappier, and it's been a pleasure to use. Bravo, team involved!

As soon as Apple launches the M5 iMac I'll be pulling the trigger on a replacement that should (hopefully) last me until 2031!

 

[clee01l]

As soon as Apple launches the M5 iMac I'll be pulling the trigger on a replacement that should (hopefully) last me until 2031!

Here to fore, I have generally upgraded computers about every three years. This is included Windows PCs and eventually Apple iMacs. In 2021, got my first M1 iMac which had a maximum of 16 GB unified memory. As Lightroom advanced it became clear that the 16GB M1 would not be up to the task. So, 2 years later I found my self looking for a better Mac I wanted to future proof my computer purchase since I was having to buy after 2 years instead of three. At that time the most powerful computer available was the M2 Ultra Mac Studio. Since I was already using a dual monitor, the iMac no longer made sense. I went with the Mac Studio and did not regret it. I have since added two more 32" monitors ( for a total of 3) and don't see how I could be comfortable with a 24" screen again.

So, here I am 3.5 years later and for Lightroom AI processes, my M2 Ultra still beats any Intel machine available or from that matter most silicon Macs. I still don't have computer envy for a newer and faster model. I am guessing that the next computer upgrade will likely be M6 Ultra or equivalent . M6? Or what ever Apple calls the successor to the M5 Ultra.

 

[Zenon]

I have not tried it on on my MacBook Air M3 yet as I'm not travelling. We go home a few weeks ago and I have not tried it out that thoroughly on the Mac mini M4 yet. However that is good news. Adobe has been adding noticeable improvements to LrC performance since 2018.

 

[flashpixx]

Agree! Copy and paste settings with Denoise included is MUCH faster.

 

[mstrathmore]

Here to fore, I have generally upgraded computers about every three years. This is included Windows PCs and eventually Apple iMacs. In 2021, got my first M1 iMac which had a maximum of 16 GB unified memory. As Lightroom advanced it became clear that the 16GB M1 would not be up to the task. So, 2 years later I found my self looking for a better Mac I wanted to future proof my computer purchase since I was having to buy after 2 years instead of three. At that time the most powerful computer available was the M2 Ultra Mac Studio. Since I was already using a dual monitor, the iMac no longer made sense. I went with the Mac Studio and did not regret it. I have since added two more 32" monitors ( for a total of 3) and don't see how I could be comfortable with a 24" screen again.

So, here I am 3.5 years later and for Lightroom AI processes, my M2 Ultra still beats any Intel machine available or from that matter most silicon Macs. I still don't have computer envy for a newer and faster model. I am guessing that the next computer upgrade will likely be M6 Ultra or equivalent . M6? Or what ever Apple calls the successor to the M5 Ultra.

Even your M1 would perform like lightning compared to my old thing, but your current M2 Ultra is a complete monster - I agree with you there's not much on the market even today that would perform much faster in the real world.

I love the iMac because I don't have a lot of space and my downfall is I am a fanatical minimalist (honestly if I could find a way to run the thing without a power cord I would ;-) ) - for that reason I don't do the multiple monitor thing, but I do acknowledge that multiple monitors, especially good ones, make life a lot easier.

I've anguished over the iMac vs Mac min + monitor options, but I think I'm just an "iMac guy" and I love the all in one neatness of it.

I will say that I am sometimes critical of Adobe because of how the do certain things, but in this instance I have to give them Kudos: the latest update is really a meaningful improvement, at least on my hardware.

Happy Lightrooming!

Mark.

 

[Kevin Dobo Photography]

I had to roll 15.3 back to previous version. After a couple days I started getting spinning wheel of death as soon as I tried to switch between Library and Develop, exit the program, etc. I reset preferences, uninstalled/reinstalled, ran Adobe cleaner, restored previous backup, etc. Nothing helped.

I haven't seen many other complaints on the interwebs, but I guess I'll wait for a 15.3.1 and see if it gets fixed for my particular instance.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

I had to roll 15.3 back to previous version. After a couple days I started getting spinning wheel of death as soon as I tried to switch between Library and Develop, exit the program, etc. I reset preferences, uninstalled/reinstalled, ran Adobe cleaner, restored previous backup, etc. Nothing helped.

I haven't seen many other complaints on the interwebs, but I guess I'll wait for a 15.3.1 and see if it gets fixed for my particular instance.

It would be interesting to try updating to 15.3 again... it might have been an incomplete install, and rolling back to the previous version would have forced an uninstall, which can often fix install issues. I haven't heard other reports, so if that doesn't fix it, it would be worth reporting so they can investigate.

 

[clee01l]

I had to roll 15.3 back to previous version. After a couple days I started getting spinning wheel of death as soon as I tried to switch between Library and Develop, exit the program, etc. I reset preferences, uninstalled/reinstalled, ran Adobe cleaner, restored previous backup, etc. Nothing helped.

I agree with Victoria. However, if you have uninstalled and reinstalled after running CC Cleaner, the problem is more likely not with Adobe but something unique with your Windows system. Version 15.3 is a bug fix/new cameras update from the prior code version. That "spinning wheel" is telling you that LrC needs resources and Windows does not have or cannot allow the app to have the requested resources. Those resources could be the size of the Swapfile, Free space for temporary files on C:\, available CPU or GPU cores, hardware that no longer meets the minimum Lightroom requirements, or out of date hardware drivers. That "spinning wheel" could be telling you that it is time to update to a new more powerful computer.

 

[Kevin Dobo Photography]

It would be interesting to try updating to 15.3 again... it might have been an incomplete install, and rolling back to the previous version would have forced an uninstall, which can often fix install issues. I haven't heard other reports, so if that doesn't fix it, it would be worth reporting so they can investigate.

Thanks for the suggestion. I may give that a go once I am back in my home office with a) my local drives and cloud backup services connected. I'm out in the field on a workshop and relying on spotty cell service and mobile hot spot. I have reported the crashes thru the interface, but haven't contacted Adobe more directly, for the same reasons.