Popular photo editing company Pixelmator says it has signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, pending regulatory approval, “to reach an even wider audience”

Apple is acquiring the popular photo editing company Pixelmator. The Pixelmator Team announced the news in a blog post …

9to5Mac 2024-11-02 Chance Miller

Context & Ripple Effects

Pixelmator had already expanded beyond its earlier Mac app: the 2017 launch of Pixelmator Pro added a redesigned interface and machine-learning-enhanced editing tools. Its earlier Metal-based Photos extension also showed close alignment with Apple’s desktop software stack.

The proposed purchase matters because it moves a specialized creative-software maker from an Apple platform participant to a prospective Apple-owned product group, subject to regulatory approval.

First-order effects

Apple gains a pending route to bring Pixelmator’s photo-editing products and team inside its software organization; Pixelmator’s ownership and product direction become contingent on approval and closing.
Pixelmator users and customers face immediate uncertainty over continuity, branding, pricing, and platform support until Apple states post-close plans.

Second-order effects

Independent photo-editing vendors serving Apple users will need to distinguish themselves against a tool that could gain closer alignment with Apple’s operating systems and distribution channels.
The deal strengthens Apple’s ability to connect consumer photo workflows with its own software ecosystem, while raising the value of native-platform integration for adjacent creative-tool developers.

Third-order effects

If Apple continues buying specialized creative-tool makers, the market may tilt further toward platform-owned workflow components rather than standalone vendors competing primarily through app features.
The acquisition illustrates platform gatekeeper leverage: developers can build on an ecosystem, but the platform owner can also become an owner of complementary tools—an outcome likely to keep competition and regulatory scrutiny in view.

The trend: Apple is selectively consolidating creative-software capabilities that complement its platforms, making ecosystem integration a more important competitive variable for independent toolmakers.

Discussion

@crumbler Casey Newton on threads
Can Apple do for Pixelmator what it did for Dark Sky??? — RE: https://www.threads.net/...
@eshumarneedi @eshumarneedi on threads
I wrote about why I'm nervous about Apple's proposed acquisition of Pixelmator and why I think indie apps should remain indie. It's giving me major déjà vu to Dark Sky, and I don't like it. https://eshumarneedi.com/...
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social Craig Grannell on mastodon
Oh crap. Apple just ate Pixelmator. So that's the best layer-based image editor for iPhone probably gone and the best photo tweaked for iPad gone. Hoping for the best, mind. :/ https://www.pixelmator.com/...
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
Pixelmator's big Apple-like redesign some years ago very much felt like a ‘hey Apple, you should acquire us’. I'm surprised it took this long, honestly — [images]
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
The most cynical take is that finding AppKit developers, which Apple needs to keep macOS running, is so hard these days that acquiring existing companies is the only way to get them 😅
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
In celebration of Apple's Pro Apps making the move to iPad, let's remember some of them we lost along the way — like Aperture, DVD Studio Pro, Color & Shake... [images]
@veedems@mastodon.social @veedems@mastodon.social on mastodon
@Techmeme wow that's unexpected. I wonder if Apple makes it free in devices or continues to charge.
@nicklockwood@mastodon.social Nick Lockwood on mastodon
I'm sorry if that seems cynical, but Apple's track record with software acquisitions is abysmal. My guess is either they'll kill it completely or replace it with something unrecognisable in a year or two
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
The calls for Apple to have its own Photoshop competitor date back to the early days of Mac OS X, and the heyday of the Final Cut Suite, when Apple had an entire lineup of pro software for various niches. — Today, this Pixelmator acquisition could have far-reaching implications…
@marioguzman@mastodon.social @marioguzman@mastodon.social on mastodon
Fucking hell. Apple bought Pixelmator. — Pixelmator Team could AppKit harder than Apple and I now feel like Apple is going to ruin this marvelous app. Damn it. Damn iiittttttt. Pixelmator Team makes Mac-ier apps than even Apple. Apple just ships even-more-stretched out iPa…
@viticci@mastodon.macstories.net @viticci@mastodon.macstories.net on mastodon
Welp. Apple has acquired Pixelmator. — https://www.pixelmator.com/...
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
On the flip side, Apple has a graveyard of pro apps it acquired, extracted all the value from, and left to rot along with their legacy userbases 😅
@invalidname@mastodon.social Chris Adamson on mastodon
Apropos of nothing surely, Acorn remains a great Core Image-based Mac app for working with images. https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/
@matthewcassinelli … Matthew Cassinelli on mastodon
Pixelmator going to Apple is the best possible future for them and I can't wait to see what happens. — I remember the last time Apple acquired a super-functional app and turned it into a headline feature 👀 https://www.pixelmator.com/...
@Gte@mastodon.social Guy English on mastodon
Big news in indie / graphics software! Congratulations to the team for joining Apple. Pixelmator has always been a super polished app. I look forward to seeing whatever they come up with. — https://www.pixelmator.com/...
@stroughtonsmith … Steve Troughton-Smith on mastodon
Apple acquiring Pixelmator has been on my bingo cards for a good 5 years — https://www.pixelmator.com/... [image]
@juliawritescode.bsky.social Julia on bluesky
I just realized I had been confusing Procreate and Pixelmator. Different apps, by different teams. 😅 [embedded post]
@rjonesy Ryan Jones on x
Ballpark Pixelmator acquisition math. $50 * 51k ratings / 15% rated (?) = $10M lifetime * 4 for web purchases (?) = $40M lifetime over 7 years = ~$6M/year avg run rate 3-4x multiple = ~$20M acquisition iOS ≈ $0 Photomator $600k ARR * 7-8 for subs = ~$4M So ~$25M
@ailon Alan Mendelevich on x
Oh, wow! Apple opens an office in Vilnius, I guess. Congrats to the amazing team @pixelmator! 🎉 https://www.pixelmator.com/...
@waitbutwhy Tim Urban on x
Every Wait But Why drawing was created in Pixelmator. Apple better not ruin or discontinue (!) my precious little stick figure laboratory.
@alxhnt Alex Hunt on x
😮 These are high quality apps and makes sense. Photomator with its recent files support is basically Aperture 2.0 📈
@theo @theo on x
Adobe should be terrified. Between this and Canva + Affinity, they've never had stronger competition
@thejoshmeister Josh Long on x
@markgurman Pixelmator is such a good app. I rarely pay for software, so I stubbornly used GIMP for years. I finally purchased Pixelmator on Black Friday last year. Wish I'd bought it years sooner. My biggest fear right now: https://x.com/...
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
@DylanMcD8 I wanted this to happen a long time ago. I think they will keep these apps mostly in tact. If anything I imagine the current ones will be made free and the next versions will be rebranded to fit in with the rest of the Apple apps family sometime next year. Though I und…
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
@markgurman super thrilled!! please make it even better and pull everyone out of the misery of adobe subscription trap
@dylanmcd8 Dylan on x
@ParkerOrtolani I am so torn on this... happy that they will have unlimited funding, but Pixelmator has basically been perfect as a product and I'm terrified of something happening to it..... reallllly hoping they just add it to their free Mac app portfolio and let the team conti…
@geerlingguy Jeff Geerling on x
I hope @pixelmator's tooling is merged into Photos... making it a better Aperture replacement. So many great workflow features from Aperture are still just missing entirely still, and things like keywords are still horribly broken. Lightroom is... okay...ish.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Nearly 10 years to the day of the last update to Aperture, Apple buys Pixelmator. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@rsgnl Joe Rossignol on x
I guess Pixelmator will eventually be considered an Apple app? A suite that consists of Final Cut Pro for video editing, Logic Pro for audio editing, and Pixelmator for image editing.
@stephenrobles Stephen Robles on x
WHAT. WAIT. Great for Pixelmator, but I hope this means a spiritual successor to Aperture and not Pixelmator just going away with a few features coming to Apple Photos.
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
the reason I am not worried about Apple messing up Pixelmator is because the Pixelmator team already acts so much like an arm of Apple that it's going to blend in so naturally with the rest of the portfolio don't forget the Pixelmator folks have been on Apple keynote stages!
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
Apple is for sure coming after Adobe now with the Pixelmator acquisition [Meme: peace sign at the graveyard, with Photoshop app icon on the gravestone and Pixelmator owned by Apple as peace sign guy]
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
I always found Pixelmator Apple-like in their amazing quality of apps. Congrats to the team there on being acquired by Apple! https://www.pixelmator.com/...
@yiningkarlli Yining Karl Li on x
Apple acquires @pixelmator. Smart move by Apple and huge congrats to the devs- Pixelmator is the gold standard for what a high-quality native Mac app should look/feel like, to the point where it often feels more native than some of Apple's own apps. https://www.pixelmator.com/...
@raywongy Ray Wong on x
I imagine Apple will turn Pixelmator and Photomator into some kinda subscription the same way Apple makes Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on iPad $5 a month (or $50 annually)
@dylanmcd8 Dylan on x
Maybe Apple will finally start marketing the Mac with Pixelmator Pro instead of Photoshop, which violates so many basic principles of “good Mac app”
@raywongy Ray Wong on x
Real question: Can @pixelmator — I'm more concerned about Photomator because it's my Lightroom alternative — break the “lifetime” use of the app once Apple absorbs it? Are our licenses ticking time bombs now and the apps will stop working at some point?
@andrewpprice Andrew Price on x
Apple have acquired Pixelmator, the mac only Photoshop alternative: https://www.pixelmator.com/... Great product. Hopefully development continues.
@minimaxir Max Woolf on x
Most of the Hacker News comments about Apple acquiring Pixelmator are “I love the app because I bought it once for cheap and don't have to pay a subscription!” and I'm concerned that's *why* Apple acquired them.
@christianselig Christian Selig on x
I love Pixelmator but what I really want to see Apple acquire is a game studio
@michalmalewicz Michal Malewicz on x
Apple is buying Pixelmator! Now this is big news because it's expanding the creative tool suite of Apple (Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro X) into photo editing and general Photoshop alternative. Adobe deserves more competition in the space! [image]
@jdalrymple Jim Dalrymple on x
The one good thing about apple buying Pixelmator is that Apple now has some real AI. The bad news is that Apple now owns Pixelmator, so it's basically fucked.
@maxwinebach Max Weinbach on x
Huge news, Pixelmator is fantastic
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Pixelmator already looks like it was built by Apple — so probably not a ton here to change in the near-term other than making it free to download, changing the name (Photos Pro?) and, of course, turning it into a monthly subscription.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Fascinating that “regulatory approval” is needed for what is probably an extremely low double digit million dollar deal, if not less.
@kylebrussell Kyle Russell on x
Need a product for the Apple Intelligence to go into
@minimaxir Max Woolf on x
I'm half unsurprised and half worried Apple will rekt it.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Apple is buying popular photo editing app Pixelmator.
r/MacOS r on reddit
Apple buys Pixelmator
r/macapps r on reddit
Apple has acquired the Pixelmator Pro team. Are we getting a first-party Photoshop competitor?
r/photography r on reddit
Pixelmator acquired by Apple
r/pixelmator r on reddit
Pixelmator is being bought by Apple. Curious to see what changes will come from this.

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