Apple Quietly Releases New Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.7

Although not yet available through the Downloads area of Apple’s website, Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.7 has appeared in our Macs’ software updaters, with a list of newly supported cameras. Extending RAW image compatibility for cameras used with Aperture 2, iPhoto ‘08 and iPhoto ‘09, the update is to be applied on both Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) systems.

"[Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.7] extends RAW image compatibility for Aperture 2, iPhoto ‘08 and iPhoto ‘09 for the following cameras," Apple says. Those are three Canon devices – the EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS 7D, and PowerShot G11 – and three Nikon units – the D3S, D300S, and D3000. According to the documentation provided by Apple, the second iteration of Aperture supports RAW formats from more than 100 digital cameras and camera backs. Aperture 2 also allows users to work with most DNG files, as well as import JPEG images from virtually all digital cameras.

It should be noted that this marks the first time Apple has issued a Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update extending the integration of Apple software with new cameras on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). The latest such update available from Cupertino – Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.6 – was released in June, before Snow Leopard debuted. Required on Mac OS X 10.5.6 (Leopard), the update extended RAW image compatibility with Canon EOS 500D, Canon Rebel T1i, Canon EOS Kiss Digital X3, Nikon D5000 and Olympus E-30.

As noted above, the current release – Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.7 – applies not only to Leopard machines, but is also recommended for Snow Leopard users. Weighing in at over 7MB, the update is currently only available via the Mac OS X built-in software update mechanism (Apple menu -> Software Update). To install, simply select the Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.7 from the list of available updates at the time of check, and hit "Install." Rebooting will not be required on your end for this particular installation.