System requirements

macOS 14 Sonoma or later: 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia and 26 Tahoe.

Exact (Lanczos-3, non-generative) and Clarity (Exact plus bounded sharpening, non-generative) use no regenerative AI. Enhance (AI), the launch default, estimates added detail with a disclosed model, marks every export “Contains AI-estimated detail,” and its AI detail slider (10–100 %) defaults to 50 %. It computes in 8-bit, so its 16-bit PNG and TIFF files carry 8-bit detail. Check an Enhance (AI) result at 100 % before you export.

Intel or Apple silicon. One universal app; Rosetta is not needed. Enhance (AI) runs on the CPU on Intel Macs — roughly a minute for a 640 × 480 photo, several minutes for larger ones; Apple silicon is faster. Exact and Clarity are unaffected.

Exports are processed in bands to keep memory use bounded. Output is capped at about 400 megapixels per image (for example 8× of a 6-megapixel photo), or about 200 megapixels when a 16-bit source is saved as 16-bit PNG or TIFF. A 4× export has 16 times the pixels of the source, so large enlargements need free memory and disk space to match.

The app is small; the exact download size is shown next to the download button. Exports are saved next to the originals, or where you choose.

JPEG, PNG, TIFF, HEIC and WebP, 8-bit or 16-bit, with or without transparency. GIF (still or animated) and HDR images are not supported.

PNG, JPEG, TIFF or WebP. With Exact and Clarity, 16-bit sources stay 16-bit in PNG and TIFF. A notice explains when a format cannot carry 16 bits. Transparency is kept in PNG, TIFF and WebP; JPEG cannot carry it. Embedded colour profiles and supported metadata are kept, orientation is preserved, and GPS data can be removed.

Keep the embedded colour profile or convert to sRGB, choose what happens to ICC, EXIF, XMP and GPS data, and pick a flatten colour for transparent sources exported to a format without transparency.

Set an exact canvas size, crop manually, or use Suggested framing (AI) to place the subject; padding can be a colour or, in PNG, TIFF and WebP, transparent. Remove Background (AI) uses Apple’s on-device Vision framework, with a mask you can inspect before exporting, and saves a transparent cut-out in PNG, TIFF or WebP.

Zoom the compare view in fixed steps — Fit, then 50, 75, 90, 100, 125, 150 or 200% — to check detail at a size that matches your export.

MacnifyIt ▸ Enlarge 2×, 4× or 8×, plus your saved Recipes, in Finder’s right-click menu is a Finder extension. Switch it on from the app’s first-run screen, or in System Settings under Extensions.

None for enlarging photos: nothing is uploaded, and the free trial works offline. Once a day the app can check a small public file on macnifyit.com to see whether a newer version exists (switch it off in the MacnifyIt menu). A paid licence is activated online, and the app rechecks the licence about once a month when the Mac is online; this is not a payment renewal.

English.