> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://macobservatory.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Laminar Keeps Shipping: Everything New Since 1.5.0 - URL: https://macobservatory.com/laminar-keeps-shipping-everything-new-since-1-5-0/ - Published: 2026-07-21T00:57:15.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-21T00:57:15.000Z - Description: Eight free updates since the 1.5.0 release. QHY joins full production, Laminar now measures your drives and plans captures around them, and a capture-engine rebuild you can feel in the interface. - Author: Andrew Burwell - Tags: Laminar, Updates Laminar has shipped eight updates since the 1.5.0 calibration release, on a roughly weekly cadence. If it has been a few weeks since you opened the app, here is what you missed: a new fully supported camera family, real disk-speed intelligence built into the capture panel, and a round of performance work you can feel the moment a preview starts. None of it changed the price. Laminar is still a one-time purchase, and every item below is a free update on the Mac App Store. ## QHY is now a fully supported camera family QHY started as a Beta backend. Sub-frame ROI capture was the one feature keeping it there, and now that it works, QHY moves to full production alongside ZWO, PlayerOne, ToupTek and its OEM rebadges, and SVBONY. Cropping down to a planet-sized region is where planetary frame rates come from, so this is the difference between "it connects" and "I would actually image with it." NOW PRODUCTION Joins ZWO, PlayerOne, ToupTek / OEM, and SVBONY QHY graduates out of Beta Sub-frame ROI capture was the last piece missing, and it is here now. On my QHY5III715C a cropped recording held a steady rate with zero dropped frames. 94.8 fps Sub-frame capture, up from 42 0 dropped 781-frame validation run ## Laminar now knows how fast your drives are This is my favorite addition of the whole run. Sustained write speed is the real ceiling on high-frame-rate capture, and until now you had to find that ceiling by trial and error. Laminar now measures each of your drives quietly from your own recordings and plans around what it learns. Know before you record Capture planning built into the panel Measured, not guessed Laminar learns each drive's true sustained write speed from your own captures. No benchmark to run. A clear verdict Before you hit record you see your data rate and file size, each with a plain green, yellow, or red call against that specific drive. One-click fix If a capture would outrun the disk, Laminar suggests a frame limit that fits and applies it for you. Nothing dropped If the drive falls behind mid-capture, frames are held in memory at full speed, then written out afterward at the pace the disk can handle. The recording completes intact. ## Performance you can feel Version 1.5.7 shipped a large internal rebuild of the capture engine. The short version: the busy work of a live session — recording stats, sensor temperature, the histogram — no longer competes with the parts of the window you are actually touching. Region-of-interest dragging and slider changes stay smooth at high frame rates, and recording starts instantly even on slower external drives. If the interface ever felt sticky to you before, open it again. What the rebuild delivers Smooth ROI dragging Live slider response Instant record start Faster launch with cameras attached Smoother white balance ## More from this cycle Smaller wins that add up A real progress bar Recordings show a live progress bar with a readable frame or time count, and frame-limited captures stop on the exact number you set. Settings that stick Gain and exposure are remembered per camera, so a camera that powers up at gain 0 no longer opens to a black preview. Your capture limit is saved too. Newer PlayerOne bodies An SDK update restored detection of newer PlayerOne cameras, including the Uranus-M and Uranus-M PRO. Smarter camera picker The picker groups astronomy cameras apart from webcams and selects your imaging camera automatically. If you use calibration frames 1.5.8 includes a reliability pass on calibration, covering how masters are matched and how hot pixels are detected on very clean, low-noise darks. If you have darks or flats from an earlier version, recapture them on 1.5.8 to pick up the improvements. Shoot darks at the gain and exposure you actually image at, and shoot flats at full frame. ## All free, and the cadence continues Every update here is free on the Mac App Store, and I am not slowing down. If something is not working the way you expect, or there is a feature you want to see next, I read every message. Laminar MAC OBSERVATORY Native planetary, lunar, and solar capture for Apple Silicon Macs. Now at version 1.5.8. macOS 14.6+ Apple Silicon Native [Learn More →](https://macobservatory.com/laminar-planetary-capture-software) Clear skies, Andrew