A Fractal Architect 2 update (version 2.4.4) has been released by Apple that fixes problems seen only on OS X Mavericks. (2012 15″ Macbook Pro’s and 2013 Macbook Pro’s with Nvidia discrete GPUs are affected).

On Mavericks only, many of you with 2012 & 2013 Macs will now have access to either an Intel HD 4000 or an Intel HD 5000 GPU which can be used for rendering. The advantage is faster rendering and lower power consumption per render.

If available, GPU rendering can be enabled through the Preferences menu. Go to the Render Options tab on Preferences and press the GPU radio button. The program will appear to hang for up to 1 full minute as the OpenCL program is compiled for your specific GPU. The Intel GPU compile times are especially long. When you see the radio button switch to the GPU, the compile is finished. Please be patient with this step.

The Render device setting is sticky and will stay in affect the next time you restart the app. (There will be no compile delay then – with the exception of when an OS X upgrade happens.)

If GPU rendering is not supported, you will not see the CPU/GPU radio buttons.

Fractal Serendipity

Update: Fractal Serendipity’s mis-categorization as an iOS app by Apple has been corrected and an update version 2.4.4 has been released.