ON1 PHOTO RAW 2026 [MARKETING HYPE VERSUS MY EXPERIENCE]
A Note on My Workflow: The ON1 Photo RAW 2026 "Upgrade"
As visitors to excellentstreetimages.com know, I believe in being transparent about my photographic process. This includes the tools I use and the impact they have on my work. I use almost every major photo editor out there—from Lightroom and Capture One to DxO PhotoLab and Luminar—so I have a very broad view of the market.
I generally try to avoid negativity, but my experience with the ON1 Photo RAW 2026 upgrade has been so profoundly disappointing that I feel it's necessary to share my findings. In its current state, I can only describe the product as a disaster and, for my professional workflow, completely unusable.
My findings aren't isolated. What I'm experiencing on my Mac Studio M3 Ultra—a top-tier machine—is being echoed by a wide range of professional users on high-performance Apple Silicon. This post is to explain why this upgrade has failed.
1. The Performance Paradox: "Unusable" on High-End Hardware
My primary complaint is the extreme performance lag, which makes the software "close to unusable." My first thought was to check my hardware, but my Mac Studio M3 Ultra dramatically exceeds ON1's own recommended specifications.
This isn't a hardware bottleneck; it's a severe software optimisation failure.
The "forum echo" confirms this. I've seen reports from users on powerful M1 Max, M1 Ultra, and even new M4 Pro machines all reporting the same issues. They describe the experience as "frustratingly slow," "just awful," and, most damningly, "just as slow as on my 2014 iMac!"
The most likely culprit appears to be a nearly decade-old, unpatched bug in ON1's rendering engine. The software simply cannot cope with the high-pixel-count 4K, 5K, and 6K displays that professionals use. The hardware is instant, but the application's UI rendering is choking, leading to the unusable lag we're all experiencing.
2. The "Retrograde Step": A Confusing, Clunky Interface
ON1's marketing promotes new UI "flexibility." In practice, this has been a significant retrograde step.
Even reviewers who are ON1 affiliates warn of its "initially unwelcoming interface" and "steep learning curve." The community is more direct, calling it "clunky," "incoherent," "busy," and "complicated."
By adding new panels and features without a consistent design language, ON1 has broken the workflow for veteran users. I, like many others, find I "have to completely relearn how to do the simplest functions." This isn't a learning curve of depth; it's one of confusion. A professional tool should build muscle memory, not destroy it with each update.
3. The "Step Backwards": When New AI Adds More Work
The entire 2026 marketing push is built on new "Advanced AI" features. This is perhaps the most significant failure, as these new tools are a clear "step backwards."
Brilliance AI: This is marketed as a one-click enhancement. In reality, it produces "garish" and "crunchy" results that are completely unusable for professional work. I find I have to manually correct every adjustment it makes, which adds work rather than removing it.
AI Masking: This is the most catastrophic failure. The entire new masking workflow is built on AI subject detection. However, the software is plagued by a fundamental bug where it reports "subject not found" on obvious subjects, like a person standing alone in the foreground. This bug renders the entire stack of new masking features completely useless.
Resize AI: Other users have rightly pointed out that this new feature "does suck at faces."
This all points to a flawed strategy. As one user aptly put it, ON1 is "always bringing in something new to make more sales but not necessarily refining or fixing core functionality." They have prioritised half-finished "frippery" over the core stability we depend on.
My Verdict: A Tool No Longer Fit for Professional Use
The disconnect between the marketing and the reality of ON1 Photo RAW 2026 is the widest I've ever seen.
They Claim: A "faster editing experience" on Apple Silicon.
The Reality: It is "unusable" on the most powerful M-series chips, likely due to an old bug with high-resolution displays.
They Claim: "Smarter, 1-Click Subject Masking."
The Reality: A "subject not found" bug makes the new masking workflow dead on arrival for many.
They Claim: "Intelligent" Brilliance AI for one-click results.
The Reality: It produces "garish, unusable results" that require time-consuming manual correction.
They Claim: A "more flexible" and improved UI.
The Reality: It's a "clunky, incoherent" interface that forces veteran users to re-learn basic functions, destroying workflow efficiency.
So, what am I doing? I've confirmed that the performance lag can be partially fixed by right-clicking the application and forcing it to "Open in Low Resolution" mode. This workaround confirms the high-res display bug, but it is not an acceptable solution for a professional photographer who needs to see a sharp preview.
The only viable path forward for a stable, professional workflow is to consider the 2026 version a failed upgrade and downgrade back to Photo RAW 2025.
As someone who relies on a suite of professional tools, I cannot afford to have a core part of my workflow be this unstable, slow, and unreliable. Until ON1 addresses these fundamental issues with performance and core functionality, I simply cannot recommend it.