New Pixelmator update aims to take advantage of the new Mac Pro’s hardware

By Konrad Krawczyk Updated January 23, 2014

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Pixelmator, a consumer-oriented photo editing alternative to the ultra popular Photoshop series, was just updated to version 3.1, which includes several changes that are designed to take advantage of the new Mac Pro desktop and its hardware.

For example, regardless of what configuration of the new Mac Pro you’re thinking about, any new Mac Pro will include a pair of AMD FirePro graphics cards. With Pixelmator getting updated to 3.1, the program will now be able to use both graphics cards when the user is applying effects. When effects are being applied to a project, one GPU will be processing the effect, while the other graphics card will handle tasks related to rendering a composition. Pixelmator will also now allow for conversion, input as well as output for 16-bit images.

On top of all that Pixelmator 3.1 will now be able to take advantage of all quad core, 6-core, 8-core and 12-core Intel Xeon processors, just like, you guessed it, the ones found on the refreshed Mac Pro.

Here’s what Ausra Meskauskaite, who works on Pixelmator, had to say about the update.

“Because it has 16-bit support now and the more powerful Mac that has dual GPUs, that improves the performance significantly. On all other Macs there is only one GPU so it’s either computing or rendering. With the Mac Pro we can divide those tasks and do everything at the same time. So performance and responsiveness is faster.”

Though Photoshop is the photo editing program of choice for many, the $20 a month rate for Photoshop CC is pricey. Pixelmator on the other hand, costs a flat $30, which is probably money much better spent, especially if you’re a novice photo editor.

What do you think of the changes made to Pixelmator with respect to the Mac Pro? Sound off in the comments below.

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Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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