Apple's Acquisition of Pixelmator

AI created, human edited. 

In a surprising move this week, Apple announced it has acquired Pixelmator, the popular Mac image editing software. On MacBreak Weekly, Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, Alex Lindsay, and Jason Snell talked about the potential implications of this acquisition, exploring how it could shape the future of photography and creative tools on the Mac.

One of the most interesting possibilities is the integration of Pixelmator's advanced features into the Apple Photos app. As Jason Snell noted, "Photomator has been doing AI-powered cleanup in photos for years now. My hope is that the stuff that's been going on with Photomator maybe gets put some people on the photos team and get some improved editing tools in photos.

The experts also speculated that Apple may use Pixelmator as the foundation for a more advanced photo editing app, similar to how Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro complement the consumer-focused iMovie and GarageBand. As Alex Lindsay pointed out, "Apple likes to be able to control its own destiny, and with Final Cut and Motion and Logic, they control their own destiny in those areas.

The panel expressed hope that Apple would continue to support Pixelmator as a standalone product rather than simply absorbing it into the company's existing software lineup. As Andy Ihnatko noted, "It would be such a damn shame and such a damn disappointment if they did not simply continue it as Pixelmator, or even if what they did with it was again give it a new name, but it's still clearly Pixelmator."

The group also discussed the potential for Pixelmator to become tightly integrated with Apple's other creative apps, such as Keynote and Pages. This could allow users to seamlessly incorporate advanced image editing and asset creation capabilities into their design workflows.

Overall, the Pixelmator acquisition presents an exciting opportunity for Apple to strengthen its position in the photography and creative software market. By leveraging Pixelmator's capabilities and team, the company could elevate the Mac's creative toolset, providing users with a more robust and integrated experience. As the MacBreak Weekly panel concluded, this move has the potential to "elevate all creative boats on the Mac.”