Upscale photos and video without uploading them.
Local Upscale Studio is a desktop app that sharpens and enlarges photos and video on your own Mac. It bundles several upscaling models and picks the best one your Mac can run well.
Goes up to $79 when version 1.0 ships.
Mac with Apple silicon · Tax handled at checkout by Polar
What the app is being built to do
- Photos and video in one window, with a queue.
- Fast mode on every Mac (Real-ESRGAN). Quality mode with newer models: SeedVR2 for photos, FlashVSR for video.
- A short test of your Mac on first launch picks the model it runs well. You can override it.
- Everything runs locally. No account, no uploads.
See early results from these models, with speeds measured on our development Mac. Results from the finished app come before launch.
Photos and video, one window.
An early look at the planned design, based on Local Video Upscaler for Mac. These are mockups, not screenshots of the finished app, and the coloured tiles stand in for your files.
Fast or Quality
Fast for long videos and big batches. Quality when detail matters more than time.
A model your Mac can run
On first launch Studio tests your Mac and picks a model for each mode. Change it any time.
What Quality mode is for.
A crop from a 1955 standard-definition film, upscaled 2×. From our test setup on the development Mac, not the finished app.
More examples, measured speed and memory, and the limits. Source: Achievement USA (1955), Prelinger Archives, public domain.
What Studio adds over the App Store apps
Local Photo Upscaler and Local Video Upscaler are good, cheap apps. If they already do what you need, keep using them. Studio is for people who upscale a lot on a Mac and want more control.
| Local Photo Upscaler | Local Video Upscaler | Local Upscale Studio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 once | $9.99 once | $49 once |
| Where it runs | iPhone and iPad | iPhone, iPad and Mac | Mac with Apple silicon |
| Photos | Yes | No | Yes |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Models | One upscaler plus denoise, deblur and portrait modes | One upscaler, two looks | Fast: Real-ESRGAN. Quality: SeedVR2 (photos) and FlashVSR (video) |
| Picks a model for your hardware | No | No | Yes, with manual override |
| Where you buy it | App Store | App Store | This website |
Coming from Topaz? See how Studio compares with Topaz and other upscalers.
Studio's column describes what the app is being built to do. We will update it to match the released app before it ships. Studio does not run on iPhone or iPad.
Good to know
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple silicon. Fast mode runs on all of them. Quality video needs a lot of memory, so it is likely to need 24 GB or more. We will publish the minimum macOS version and memory once the app is tested on ordinary machines, not only our development Mac.
Is there a Windows version?
Not yet. Mac comes first. A Windows version depends on how the models run on typical Windows PCs.
Are my files uploaded?
No. The app runs its models on your Mac. The only thing that goes online is the purchase itself, which happens on this website.
Who handles payment and tax?
Polar is the merchant of record. It processes the payment, adds any sales tax or VAT that applies where you live, and sends your receipt.
What do I get after buying?
An email receipt, a licence key and a download link. You can also find them again in the customer portal linked from your receipt.
Is it a subscription?
No. You pay once.
Local Upscale Studio
Launch price. Goes up to $79 when version 1.0 ships. One-time purchase. Sales tax or VAT is added at checkout where it applies.
- Receipt, licence key and download link by email
- Runs on your Mac. Nothing uploaded.