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Apple acquiring Pixelmator is the biggest news of Mac week
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Apple has acquired Pixelmator–the popular Photoshop alternative for Mac, iPad andiPhoneusers – the creators have confirmed.
In a blog post on Friday, Pixelmator revealed it had signed on the dotted line with Apple and, subject to regulatory approval, would be hopping into bed with the iPhone maker.
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Pixelmator has gained popularity as a much more affordable alternative to Adobe’s creative suite, while largely going toe-to-toe with Photoshop on the features applicable to the vast majority of users.
And, whereas Photoshop has often felt like a broader app with a Mac version, Pixelmator has always felt like a native Mac app, aided in part because it isn’t available on Windows.
Pixelmator said as much today, in ablog postconfirming the planned acquisition: “We’ve been inspired by Apple since day one, crafting our products with the same razor-sharp focus on design, ease of use, and performance.”
The company assured users there’ll be no big changes to the app, at least for the time being, and said the acquisition will help it reach a wider audience.
The company wrote: “Pixelmator has signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval. There will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time. Stay tuned for exciting updates to come.”
It may be that Pixelmator becomes the default photo editing solution for Mac and iPhone moving forward, perhaps under the broader banner of the Photos app. Apple has a long history of acquiring apps popular among its user base and then folding the technology into its own suite of products. The weather app Dark Sky, for instance, now underpins the Apple Weather app.
Pixelmator’s blog post today hinted at such an eventuality: “Now, we’ll have the ability to reach an even wider audience and make an even bigger impact on the lives of creative people around the world.”
It is, of course, highly plausible that the advanced imaging technologies within Pixelmator will be used to supercharge the Image Playground generative AI tech the company has in store for Apple Intelligence.
While Pixelmator hasn’t dived head first into AI, in the way Adobe has, the app may come into play when instructing an AI to carry out a certain task – like altering the lighting – with aplomb.
Apple has spent the last week refreshing itsMacBook Pro, Mac mini andiMaclines with M4 processors finely tuned for Apple Intelligence. However, this announcement – which Apple hasn’t commented on and likely won’t – could be the biggest of the week.
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Chris Smith is a freelance technology journalist for a host of UK tech publications, including Trusted Reviews. He’s based in South Florida, USA. …
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
