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I guess 2 possible options:

1. Apple wants their own photo editing app (like Aperture)

2. They want to add more editing to the native photos app (incorporate features from Pixelmator, like Dark Sky and the weather app)
 
Why? I agree the Affinity suite is great - I’m a happy user of all their apps, but they’ve also been acquired (by Canva) and the future of the software - especially the one time purchase model - is just as uncertain.

We're in the era of being wary of all software's long-term availability due to the rampant consolidation in the industry.
 
EXACTLY came here to say this. WTF ? You get rid of Aperture and now this!!!!!???????? Aperture ran my Life for Years Entire Moves and TV Shows and you jus woke up one Morning and said N,o not gunna support it anymore and stopped updating the Camera RAW Profiles.....

Yeah, that's the worst part, no raw profile updates.

If they'd at least update those I'd feel a lot less silly keeping two older Macs running just for Aperture?

Still the best option for the Canon I use 99% of the time, but when I rent newer gear, ugh.
 
What do they have that apple couldn't figure out?
Does Pixelmator have any benefits over photoshop?
 
This is too bad. Apple will dumb down the product and make it nearly useless by gutting the features. Or worse, maybe Apple just wants some of the code so they can pull it into some kind of Aperture replacement.

Apple made a huge mistake when they killed Aperture. When professionals who depended on Apple's so-called "pro apps" found that Apple killed Aperture they very smartly concluded that Apple might kill FPCX or Logic and so they all looked for a way to be not exposed to that kind of risk. No one wants to invest time in a system that might disappear.

So people moved from Final Cut Pro and Logic to DeVinci Resolt or Pro Tools because they lost trust in Apple and would not accept the risk. It will take Apple a decade to regain trust. I hope this is the start of Apple trying to reverse their mistake with Aperture by replacing it.

But I suspect they just bought the company so they have access to a few features to be transplanted into Photos and they intend to kill the product and company
 
It makes sense from Apple's point of view. They've focused on the iPhone's camera for years as the main selling point (and in the EU, without Apple Intelligence, the iPhone website is basically all about the camera and little else). Yet, they still don't have their own ecosystem, aside from online storage, to edit, manage, or enhance photos. Meanwhile, Pixelmator and Photomator provide the best and most native UI/UX of all of them.
 
I see Apple including a LOT of Apple Intelligence features into this.
Additionally, I also see them going the route of offering a subscription based method. Offering everything "Pro" now such as a photo editor (Pixelmator AKA Photo Pro X), video editor (Final Cut Pro X), a DAW (Logic Pro X).

Ability to continue to purchase outright or subscription based.
Or a new "Apple Studio X" plan that offers all of them at a discount, similar to Apple One.

These ideas is exactly why no one would hire me to run their company 😂😂😂
 
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Apple usually does a good job of incorporating acquisitions. I just prefer small businesses and companies. I do know surviving in this huge corporate market place is impossible.
 
I know some people will be (justifiably) worried this will be a Sherlocked type of moment, but this is honestly really good news.

In my experience using Pixelmator and Photomator for 10 years, the software is top-notch even when lacking competitor features. Any time Adobe or Black Magic can get more competition, the better. Like others have said, I hope Pixelmator’s recent photo culling update means Apple might get back into the Aperture game.

As a side note talking about Apple’s Pro apps and consumer apps, how about the iMovie branding be retired and consumers get a useful alternative to TikTik’s CapCut? Call it Final Cut, with the Pro moniker? iMovie just seems like 90s family home video editing software these days.
 
Pixelmator and Photomator are easily the gold standard of iOS and Mac apps, and always the first thing I recommend for people to get when they need to do any photo editing. I'd even go as far to say that Adobe should be watching Apple very closely if anything remotely as intuitive and powerful as Pixelmator Pro is built in to the system. 🤯
 
Are you freaking kidding me?!?!

Did you lose your Aperture binaries or something? Wrecking the Aperture / iPhoto combo first, empty promises for years about how missing functionality will come back and be delivered through 3rd party plugins… and now this?

Been using Pixelmator since launch, paid for all versions of their app so have decent understanding what they do. Unless Apple wants to get back into pro photography game (please give Randy Ubillos a call & bag of $$$ to supervise those Baltic boys in case you’re serious) I don’t see the point of this acquisition. There’s a bit of a learning curve behind their apps compared to what is currently in Photos app.

Will be shame to see their iPad apps go :/
 
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