Apple doesn't like photographers

[Basic75]

At least that's what it feels like since Aperture was left to rot and then abandoned. Movie makers have Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor, music people just got Music Memos in addition to Logic Pro X, Garage Band and the Logic Remote App, and we have ... Photos, just enough to manage some snapshots but not even enough for an ambitious amateur 'tog. Why?

 

[Doylem]

Why indeed? I have used Aperture ever since I went digital (which immediately converted my old film cameras into rather expensive paperweights). It met most of my needs in organising and editing. I was 'loyal' to Apple, but where was Apple's loyalty to photographers like me? Since Apple persuaded millions of people to adopt their software as their default option for photography, they should have 'followed through' by continuing to update and support Aperture. I guess the numbers didn't stack up. But, for a company as profitable as Apple, that shouldn't have been the only criterion.

I'm still using Aperture, and will soon have to learn how to use Lightroom. It will mean weeks of unlearning and re-learning, which will be more of a chore than a pleasure...

 

[MCAsan]

Why Apple dropped Aperture......IOS users simply don't need that level of capability to capture, edit, and share snapshots. IOS is where Apple's serious revenue is coming from, not dedicated photographers with interchangeable lens camera systems costing thousands of dollars.

But all of this is years old news and been cussed and discussed many. many times on this forum and many others. Its getting late in the game to lament the loss of Aperture. Long since time for serious photographers to consider the options and move to another app such as LR, C1P, or other DAM.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Apple believes an iPhone camera is good enough for anyone. They don't see that in many situations its woefully inadequate.
Try motion or low light photography. Or wildlife or macro.
Unfortunately for most of the world a camera phone is good enough. We are the top 1%'s.

 

[Ish]

I only wish a deal had been done with someone willing to take it over.

@Doylem I'm in the same boat as you. Going to investigate LR and CaptureOne which some say is more similar to Aperture. There are a number of threads on here that I'll read before doing a trial.

 

[JDDavis]

Apple likes photographers who buy iPhones and Macs, download photography apps from the IOS and Mac app stores, purchase storage and cloud solutions from iCloud, use Apple TVs to view their slide shows, share their Apple created photography with the world through social media (whose Apps they download through the IOS app store), and in general are happy being in a decently well done, self contained Apple ecosystem.

That market is huge. The market for a high end professional grade editing / DAM program is much smaller and there are other well established players. Though Apple could "afford" to be in this market simply for the sake of loyalty to the prosumer community, why would they? And in the end why would we want them to be? Would their heart (their resources) really be all in?

Disclaimer: I was a long time Aperture user and have moved on to C1P and I feel my images are better for it. And...I still own iPhones, 2 Macs, buy apps, own 2 Apple TVs (but I don't do iCloud)...so what has Apple really lost?

 

[AppleHater]

Disclaimer: I was a long time Aperture user and have moved on to C1P and I feel my images are better for it. And...I still own iPhones, 2 Macs, buy apps, own 2 Apple TVs (but I don't do iCloud)...so what has Apple really lost?

The apple's eco system works for most but us especially using RAW files. Because of that reason, I (we)'ll be staying outside of their (desired) iCloud based photo management flow.

I'm completing ignoring the iCloud whereas if Aperture gets me what we need, I'll seriously consider integrating my flow into iCloud based which I can understand the benefit.

 

[carlgo]

Sort of makes it unnecessary to stay with Apple if you aren't interested in social media or the cloud for anything other than email and such, and need to work with 3rd party programs for anything important. Apple makes good use of the ecosystem, but how far is Windows behind now?

 

[MCAsan]

Why bring up Windows? What serious photography apps does MS sell?

 

[mtbdudex]

Why indeed? I have used Aperture ever since I went digital (which immediately converted my old film cameras into rather expensive paperweights). It met most of my needs in organising and editing. I was 'loyal' to Apple, but where was Apple's loyalty to photographers like me? Since Apple persuaded millions of people to adopt their software as their default option for photography, they should have 'followed through' by continuing to update and support Aperture. I guess the numbers didn't stack up. But, for a company as profitable as Apple, that shouldn't have been the only criterion.

I'm still using Aperture, and will soon have to learn how to use Lightroom. It will mean weeks of unlearning and re-learning, which will be more of a chore than a pleasure...

Why Apple dropped Aperture......IOS users simply don't need that level of capability to capture, edit, and share snapshots. IOS is where Apple's serious revenue is coming from, not dedicated photographers with interchangeable lens camera systems costing thousands of dollars.

But all of this is years old news and been cussed and discussed many. many times on this forum and many others. Its getting late in the game to lament the loss of Aperture. Long since time for serious photographers to consider the options and move to another app such as LR, C1P, or other DAM.

Time us "old dogs" learned new tricks I guess? 😱
Seriously I also posted same here, August-2015 https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/who-else-is-still-using-aperture.1906210/

I'm just busy with life, raising my 3 kids, now ages 10/12/14, so being 53 and still active photo hobbyist if it works I'm not fixing it, just yet.
So yes, today I'm still using Aperture, even on my brand new 27" 5k iMac https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/6-year-computer-late-2015-27-imac-5k-24gb-ram.1928384/

I dis-like that every time I insert a SD card Photos comes up ....no way to turn that off 😡
[edit] there is a way to turn it off, not apple info but 3rd party
http://osxdaily.com/2015/05/31/stop-photos-opening-automatically-mac-os-x/

and this
https://www.reddit.com/r/osx/comments/328kpv/how_to_disable_os_x_10103_photos_app_opening_when/

 

[The Bad Guy]

Why bring up Windows? What serious photography apps does MS sell?

Well since it's mentioned now, I'm gonna join in too. 😀

It's got nothing to do with Windows, it's more to do with the direction Apple is heading. What's the bonus of sticking with Apple?

As a long time Mac user (20+ years) and one that came from their then core market (creative professionals) I really see no benefit to me in being an Apple customer these days.

I still run Mountain Lion on my photo editing machine (because it's about as rock solid as anything since Snow Leopard and I want my computers power to go to the editing software I use, not just running the OS), a machine I was able to upgrade aftermarket, but in my day job (ironically, selling and fixing Apple products) I have to use their latest stuff, sell closed down (waaaay over priced in my country) systems and witness first hand on a daily basis their slipping quality and appalling performance of their computers. Add to that I have to deal with Apple directly and know full well that the computer department is just an inconvenience to them. They just want to sell more phones and tablets.

I remember when Aperture first came out. Wow! I was amazed. I did all the fancy Apple training on it. I used it. I endorsed it.

Gone.

Buy an iPhone. Wear the watch. Rent movies on an iPad.

I don't necessarily want to move to Windows, but all I do is edit photos (Lightroom & Photoshop) and browse the web (Google Chrome now that Safari is ****), why spend more than I should to stick with Apple?

 

[coldsweat]

........ Movie makers have Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor, music people just got Music Memos in addition to Logic Pro X, Garage Band and the Logic Remote App, and we have ... Photos, just enough to manage some snapshots but not even enough for an ambitious amateur 'tog. Why?

Not really true, Apples standard apps are all equally 'consumer-centric' - iMove for Video, Photos for Photos, Garageband for Audio, so the photographer is catered for in the standard apps just as much as a videographer or Music Maker.

When it comes to using a pro app, a Videographer can choose FCPX but that's a fully paid for app in the same way that a Photographer can pay for LR or C1P - No they aren't made by Apple, but in fact it's probably better to NOT use Apple apps in any professional environment as the recent El Capitain/FCPX/NVIDIA Card debacle showed (Those who are not aware, EL Cap 'Broke' FCPX for those with NVIDIA cards with constant crashing - it wasn't fixed or even acknowledged until the El Cap 10.11.2 update 2 months later - tough for those running a business), but when Abode made a recent update to to LR that seriously affected performance & caused crashing for some users, it was fixed in a couple of days!

For my photography business we moved away from Aperture to C1P years ago now & since moved to LR and I've never once missed Aperture since. For my personal family photos I do use Photos as it gives me just enough ease of use/cloud backups to make life easier, however I'd have no problems whatsover using C1P or LR for my personal photos if my needs ever got more ambitious!

 

[JDDavis]

Sort of makes it unnecessary to stay with Apple if you aren't interested in social media or the cloud for anything other than email and such, and need to work with 3rd party programs for anything important. Apple makes good use of the ecosystem, but how far is Windows behind now?

Well since it's mentioned now, I'm gonna join in too. 😀

It's got nothing to do with Windows, it's more to do with the direction Apple is heading. What's the bonus of sticking with Apple?

As a long time Mac user (20+ years) and one that came from their then core market (creative professionals) I really see no benefit to me in being an Apple customer these days.

I still run Mountain Lion on my photo editing machine (because it's about as rock solid as anything since Snow Leopard and I want my computers power to go to the editing software I use, not just running the OS), a machine I was able to upgrade aftermarket, but in my day job (ironically, selling and fixing Apple products) I have to use their latest stuff, sell closed down (waaaay over priced in my country) systems and witness first hand on a daily basis their slipping quality and appalling performance of their computers. Add to that I have to deal with Apple directly and know full well that the computer department is just an inconvenience to them. They just want to sell more phones and tablets.

I remember when Aperture first came out. Wow! I was amazed. I did all the fancy Apple training on it. I used it. I endorsed it.

Gone.

Buy an iPhone. Wear the watch. Rent movies on an iPad.

I don't necessarily want to move to Windows, but all I do is edit photos (Lightroom & Photoshop) and browse the web (Google Chrome now that Safari is ****), why spend more than I should to stick with Apple?

I've been using Apple products at home and Windows machines at work for nearly 20 years. Both get the job done but I'll stick with OSX hands down. I'll admit that Apple has slipped a bit from it's perch atop near perfection but the level of frustration is orders of magnitude lower than I have on Windows machines at work. When I think about it, the only native Apple apps I really still use are iMovie and iTunes. And like you, The Bad Guy, I really only edit photos and movies and access the web but the reliability record for my devices has been phenomenal. In 20 years we've only owned a Power Mac, a G4 tower, a Powerbook G4, a 2007 iMac, and a 2010 MacBook Pro. The only one that has ever had a problem was the iMac. I replaced a faulty graphics card and the HD failed after about 3 years. The 2007 iMac and 2010 MBP are sitting on the desk today happily running the latest OS. Even though I'm sure there was something I can't ever recall having a major OS related issue on any machine. I can't say that about my Windows machines at work. They get the job done too but it takes tech support to do it.

 

[robgendreau]

At least that's what it feels like since Aperture was left to rot and then abandoned. Movie makers have Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor, music people just got Music Memos in addition to Logic Pro X, Garage Band and the Logic Remote App, and we have ... Photos, just enough to manage some snapshots but not even enough for an ambitious amateur 'tog. Why?

Really, why?

Apple is primarily a hardware and system software maker. Yeah, it has, in fits and starts, provided pro-type applications. But if you knew anything about Apple you'd know those come and go. You seem to think that you can't add any other applications to your computer; have you even checked the Mac App Store? Just under "photography" there are hundreds of of options. And even more outside the store, many better than Aperture.

Yes, bummer that Aperture went. Or maybe not: many Apple developers resent it when Apple competes with them in software development. MS was pilloried, and sued under antitrust law, for that sort of thing. Why develop an Aperture alternative when Apple can roll over and destroy your program, or offer up competiton free?

I say kudos to Apple, even though I switched. You might have noticed that they just happen to produce the highest resolution screeens you can buy for a personal computer, continue to provide raw conversion, and have a system platform that can run everything from exiftool, dcraw, and GIMP up to Lightroom, Affinity Photos, etc.

I could understand if Apple didn't even offer its rather lame freebie Photos; maybe someone is too cheap to buy a camera or software for it. But anyone who cares at all about photography and who can't find a great editor and organizer on the Mac OS is probably better off hiring someone else to take their photos and process them.

 

[robgendreau]

I dis-like that every time I insert a SD card Photos comes up ....no way to turn that off 😡
[edit] there is a way to turn it off, not apple info but 3rd party
http://osxdaily.com/2015/05/31/stop-photos-opening-automatically-mac-os-x/

and this
https://www.reddit.com/r/osx/comments/328kpv/how_to_disable_os_x_10103_photos_app_opening_when/

Nothing "third party" about it. That's Apple's Photos in the article.

And the Reddit post refers to Image Capture, yet another Apple product that is already on your computer.

Follow the instructions and it should cure your problem.

 

[LizKat]

Apple believes an iPhone camera is good enough for anyone. They don't see that in many situations its woefully inadequate.
Try motion or low light photography. Or wildlife or macro.
Unfortunately for most of the world a camera phone is good enough. We are the top 1%'s.

I could agree on macro especially...

But anyone really into, say, macro will likely migrate those endeavors to a different camera anyway. I do appreciate the built in edits on iOS; they are plenty for my purposes and it's great to be able to tweak something and mail it without having to take it to a laptop first.

As for other options, most iPhone photo-takers fall in the amateur class, so what's in the app store covers the bases. I'm with those who suggest Apple keep making great hardware and maintain the OS and iOS systems with diligence.

 

[mtbdudex]

Nothing "third party" about it. That's Apple's Photos in the article.

And the Reddit post refers to Image Capture, yet another Apple product that is already on your computer.

Follow the instructions and it should cure your problem.

My bad - 3rd party instructions on how to use apple products ...
IMO Apple should make it easier for the end user to configure the iDevice "what to do" upon plug in.
I had to search too much for this, sure once know not a big deal at all.
But really, using an app called "Image Capture" to tell the computer what to do when connected to a specific iDevice, that is intuitive ?

 

[OreoCookie]

Apple believes an iPhone camera is good enough for anyone. They don't see that in many situations its woefully inadequate.
Try motion or low light photography. Or wildlife or macro.
Unfortunately for most of the world a camera phone is good enough. We are the top 1%'s.

I don't think this is a satisfactory explanation: Claiming that Apple is just interested in the consumer market, doesn't jive with their behavior in other creative fields. If you look at Apple's love for music and video, they have consistently developed pro and amateur-level apps for years and years. Even if they took unexpected turns (Final Cut Pro X comes to mind), they have continuously revved these applications. Clearly, this is rooted in the love that some Apple executives have for video and music. On the other hand, there are Apple execs who are big photography buffs (Phil Schiller comes to mind), so it doesn't really explain the lack of applications here.

I think they really should have unveiled a pro-level app with the iPad Pro, and given the Apple Pencil, a photography-related app would have been great.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Actually, I think the thread title doesn't quite convey what is really happening.

The reality is not that "Apple doesn't like photographers", rather, the regrettable reality is that "Apple doesn't give two hoots about photographers".

These days, Apple is a hugely successful and extremely profitable company. It is a company that started out making computers (and software systems) and idd that very well in a stunning fusion of form and function.

However, through the so-called 'halo' effect, and also through The Founder's visionary and utterly revolutionary transformation of how music is produced and consumed and stored (the iPod), - and later, the Cloud,- which has more or less destroyed the old recording companies, and introduced profitable rentier models of music consumption - and the dramatic transformation of how the market for phones can be realised (as portable devices that can also make phone calls - which destroyed Nokia), has drastically altered the commercial centre of gravity in Apple.

These days, Apple is a company that makes its money from manny of its divisions (iPhones, iPads, iWatch) which can afford to carry its computing arm - the arm which made its name - as a loss leader.

It is not just keen amateur - or proto-professional - photographers that Apple could not give two hoots about: It is their entire computing division. The profits - the stratospheric profits - lie elsewhere, which is also where the interest in future development and research will be found.

 

[Badrottie]

I see crystal ball Apple is going to stop making Mac computers in favor of iPhone and iPad..

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I see crystal ball Apple is going to stop making Mac computers in favor of iPhone and iPad..

To be honest, I doubt that.

However, I do see a situation - which is approaching, if it hasn't already arrived - where Apple places a lot less emphasis on its computer division than on some of the other more remunerative areas of its commercial empire.

 

[MCAsan]

We are already there. Macs are a complement to the IOS cash cow. Given that they have made both Macs and IOS devices very profitably, no reason to kill off Macs for drastically needed resources (designers and money) to develop more IOS devices.

 

[Badrottie]

Do you realize Apple loves photographers Apple is working on 3rd generation iPad Air with camera flash and 4K that's what photographers are looking for.

 

[besler3035]

Do you realize Apple loves photographers Apple is working on 3rd generation iPad Air with camera flash and 4K that's what photographers are looking for.

I can tell you that professional photographers are not looking for iPads to take the place of their cameras. Ever. An iPad will never offer enough control or offer you all the options of a modern DSLR.

Plus it's huge and obnoxious.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Taking a photo with an iPad is just sad. Especially if it's an event and you are the person behind them.