Apple Discontinuing Physical Photo Books Printing Service Later This Year

[maflynn]

Very bad news and another sign to me that Apple lost the path of its founder.

Why?

I'm surprised they hadn't killed this option off years ago. Its 2018, and the desire for consumers and prosumers to print anything is cratering. Yes there will always need, but that's more in the professional realm, Apple being a consumer company, I can see this option like the post card (remember those) option not serving anyone

 

[Blackstick]

Wasn't the iOS Cards app (and print service) discontinued under Steve?

No doubt implemented under Steve (released the week he passed along with the 4S), but discontinued 2 years later by Tim and co.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cards_(iOS)

 

[Canubis]

Oh boy, how hard can it be to find a (new) subcontractor for this and just forward the print jobs to them. It's not like anybody located in Infinite Loop 1 was doing this all the time either way. But having Apple look through the whole process, using the Apple ID for paying etc. just works and adds to the using a Mac feeling. Why destroy such good things and what for?

 

[vaxes]

This is upsetting.
I am getting married in Oct and really wanted to make a apple wedding book.

AE

 

[blacktape242]

that sucks!!!

 

[RogerWilco]

Might as well just stop making the photos app while your at it. Just have the app icon open the pictures folder... gezz what a waste.

And how many of us have gigabytes of photos that we never look at? Some even pay for extra storage to archive and "preserve" these timeless, precious photo files.

L-effin'-OL

 

[hondo77]

Crap! I love the books I ordered and they were so easy to make.

Sure, discontinue the photo printing service and Airports but, by all means, start making crappy TV series. WTAF?

 

[konqerror]

The print products were made in the USA too, no comment on possible job losses.

Apple didn't print anything themselves. They were sent to one of many suppliers. A number of popular online sites do the same thing.

 

[J___o___h___n]

This is a shame. If it’s down to poor sales numbers, they should have lowered the pricing.

 

[ATC]

That’s very unfortunate. I’ve used this service to get 2 hard covered books made for family and they absolutely loved them. The quality was amazing compared to other services we've used.

Just my opinion but lately it just feels like Apple is chipping away at everything that made Apple great in the first place.

 

[Nicksd84]

I would’ve thought they’d bring this to iOS, not cancel it. Of course they shuttered the cards app.

Software and services I like they shutter and tell me to use a third party. Apps I want them to partner with a third party (cough maps cough) they double down on their own efforts. Oh well.

 

[Bin Cook]

A bit more of the company killed by Tim because there aren’t enough cents in it.

The albums were pricey but well made and we have a couple. We were going to put our own album together with wedding pics in. Will have to hurry up now.

What a shame. A quirky but well loved part of the business that Apple could easily afford to keep going. All last remnants of Steve being dumped on the bonfire, one by one. A sad day.

 

[macduke]

Apple doesn't want you to make a photo book for you grandparents. They want you go buy them an iPad.

 

[MBAir2010]

1:07:20 miss those days....

In this video, we see Steve looking and seeming proud of an accomplishment, while Tim has this deer in the headlights look every unveiling of a new Apple product.
Apple stopped this because how many 19 year olds are going to get one of these books printed, not many, so sayonara seniors!
[doublepost=1531421089][/doublepost]ALSO.....20 years ago humans would patronize their local print shop for such products, sometimes results within a day, definitely that week.

 

[someoldguy]

Well , this certainly sucks ..... Been using the calendar service to print out calendars as holiday gifts for the last 10 years or so . Kinda expensive , but good quality and top shelf service . Time to look for an alternative , wonder who their subcontractor was?

 

[bladerunner2000]

Well this sucks. I love these books and felt like the pricing was actually pretty fair for the quality. I was planning to make a calendar for my mother-in-law for Christmas per her request, so I guess I'll need to get it done before September 30.

http://www.blurb.com/

 

[jwdsail]

Damn.

This was one of those things Apple did that "just worked" so well too.

iPhoto, Aperture, and even the new Photos app all allowed for creating some really amazing gifts for friends and family.

I've made several over the years that people still talk about.

I guess Apple isn't seeing enough use to keep it going.

Apple keeps killing things I actually use and love. (Hypercard, QTVR, Aperture, comfortable and reliable laptop keyboards, MagSafe, AirPort, this)

I'll have to hurry up and order a few I was planning on making for people around the holidays before it's gone.

Damnit.

 

[nitramluap]

Damn! Glad I spotted this.

I shall miss this. I have created a photo book for every year going back to 1998, taking the year’s best (most meaningful) photos and adding some captions. It’s been wonderful and Apple’s book quality is excellent, and they’re all the same size so they look good on the bookshelf.

It was a great way to trim photo libraries so you’d actually look at them again but most importantly, it is a way for ANYONE to view them without requiring any tech or my ownership of an iCloud account. They’ll be around long after I’m gone and my digital life is deleted. I guess our digital photos vanish forever once we’re gone unless you’re going to dump them on a relative before you go... and they’ll get to sift through every inane image. Great.

Apple, wtf are you doing?

 

[Astro7x]

Damn! Glad I spotted this.

I shall miss this. I have created a photo book for every year going back to 1998, taking the year’s best (most meaningful) photos and adding some captions. It’s been wonderful and Apple’s book quality is excellent, and they’re all the same size so they look good on the bookshelf.

It was a great way to trim photo libraries but most importantly, it is a way for ANYONE to view them without requiring any tech or my ownership of an iCloud account. They’ll be around long after I’m gone and my digital life is deleted.

Apple, wtf are you doing?

I've been doing the same thing since my daughter was born, and the OCD part of me will miss having a bookshelf of Apple Books with identical spines...

Anyway, putting this out here for others, but Presto Photo supports printing books from Aperture, iPhoto, and Photos by using the PDF it generates as a preview

https://www.prestophoto.com/products/pdf/

It saved me when I needed to print an old book made in Aperture after Apple stopped supporting iPhoto and Aperture in March 2016. They look very comparable to the new books made with Photos, since you can no longer do the wrap around image for the cover.

Edit: Here is a quick comparison in price.

A large Apple Hardcover Book with 100 pages cost me $109.19, plus $5.99 shipping, tax... $122.37 out the door.

Printed out the same book on Presto Photo, was $60 for the book, $5.93 for shipping, for $65.92 out the door. If you want to remove their watermark on the back cover it is $10 more, so $75.92 for very close replication. I used "Binding Options 11"x8.5" Imagewrap Hardcover Photo Book, Silk 120 Photo Paper" and I thought it was comparable, thought they had more premium photo paper option for $22 more. My only complaint is that I find their dusk jackets a bit too glossy and leave fingerprints behind.

 

[bennyf]

Maybe someone suggested that the Apple car project be canceled to divert resources back to their core customer given insane Pro desktop and Mac Mini, etc. delays. Tim replies "good idea, but instead let's just cancel the photo book". The one employee it took to keep that service going is going to make *all the difference* to product roadmaps.

Jobs canceled stuff like this and Airport-type ancillary products in order to focus more on the core products, but now it feels like it's done to focus more on Apple Car or a new watch band -- ADHD more than refocusing.

 

[WinterWolf90]

I went on a vacation to San Francisco once and a friend made a photo book using this service and gave it to me as a Christmas Gift and I loved it. I made one for my boyfriend last year as well. It was so simple and way better than the online companies.

 

[ldavis]

Well this sucks. I love these books and felt like the pricing was actually pretty fair for the quality. I was planning to make a calendar for my mother-in-law for Christmas per her request, so I guess I'll need to get it done before September 30.

You'll still be able to create calendars after September 30. Mimeo Photos and other extensions offer photo products including cards, calendars, and photobooks.

 

[WinterWolf90]

And how many of us have gigabytes of photos that we never look at? Some even pay for extra storage to archive and "preserve" these timeless, precious photo files.

L-effin'-OL

I have about 47GB of photos and videos I have taken over the years. I may not look at them every day, but I am glad they are there and if there was one thing that I would miss if I lost all of my backups and files, it would be those over anything else. I often do go back and look at the ones I have taken, especially vacation moments. This past June when I went to St Paul to visit friends I had my computer and was showing them pictures that I had taken during a prior trip we all went on to California and we had a good time looking at them. I have taken pictures that my dad has had as a kid, and in the army and high resolution scanned those and uploaded them, and I am glad I have them because the physical copies may not last.
[doublepost=1531427765][/doublepost]

Apple doesn't want you to make a photo book for you grandparents. They want you go buy them an iPad.

What's a photo book? haha, sorry had to

 

[WarHeadz]

Apple is good at discontinuing things. They should discontinue the company.

Yeah totally. It's only worth 700 BILLION dollars. They should totally take your advice.

 

[ldavis]

Huge disappointment. I ordered many beautiful books both hardback and softback over the years. The quality was really decent. I had everything from skiing/snowboarding holidays to books representing my athlete clients.

What a shame I still LOVE the real printed books and there's no way an iPad or whatever could ever replace that for me

You will still have the option to order printed photobooks (including hardback and softback available on Mimeo Photos). Check out the services available that support photo projects through the App Store.
[doublepost=1531428870][/doublepost]

My mom has maybe a hundred of these photo books and that make browsing through a trip really easy and makes it all into a nice story.

Read the article and still confused... Does this definitively mean that they aren't going to do the cards anymore either, or just the books?

I've made one of these cards every year around the holidays for the last nine years using the same template. It's kind of a tradition. Really sucks if the cards are going too.

I found Apple's book and card options and quality noticeably better than similar products through Shutterfly, etc.

Follow-up question: I still use iPhoto (can't give up the manual event splitting and most recent at top sorting)... does this mean they are going to release a "new" version of iPhoto with the Print ordering pieces ripped out?

Other services are available for you to continue to order cards. Mimeo Photos and other apps are available for your current photo projects and projects after September 30 - including your holiday cards.
[doublepost=1531429941][/doublepost]

This is upsetting.
I am getting married in Oct and really wanted to make a apple wedding book.

AE

You'll still be able to create a photobook for your wedding in October. Mimeo Photos is available in the Mac App Store and has multiple book options to choose from.