darktable

darktable is a free and open-source photography workflow app: a lighttable and darkroom that gives you non-destructive RAW processing without a subscription. It competes with Lightroom Classic, Capture One, and DxO PhotoLab on capability while staying GPLv3. You manage digital negatives in a database, cull on a zoomable lighttable, and develop selects through a modular pipeline that leaves originals intact. As of August 2026 the release line is darktable 5.6.0. Official installers on darktable.org include darktable-5.6.0-arm64.dmg for Apple Silicon on macOS 14 and later and an x86_64 build for Intel, with the install page noting macOS 15 for Intel. Homebrew cask brew install --cask darktable is a common route. The 5.x series kept moving; 5.6 materials highlight AI tooling with GPU paths that vary by platform. On macOS the acceleration is usually turnkey once you pick the right architecture DMG. On a Mac, Gatekeeper still quarantines the app on first launch, and darktable.org documents the xattr removal step. Performance hinges on how your Apple Silicon GPU and CPU share the load and how heavy your module stack is. Expect a steeper learning curve than Lightroom: masks, scene-referred modules, and history matter more than casual slider pushing. For ownership-minded photographers who want local catalogs and zero subscription cost, that trade is often worth a weekend of learning. Support lives on pixls.us, GitHub issues, and the manual. Match arm64 vs x86_64 to your CPU, back up XMP sidecars with the RAWs, and pin a version during client weeks so module defaults do not shift mid-job. If you dual-run with Lightroom during migration, keep exportable catalogs and archival TIFFs outside any single app. Official 5.0.0 release notes from the 5.x era still help as baseline context for how macOS support and modern modules evolved into the 5.6 line you install today.