Apple acquiring Pixelmator is the biggest news of Mac week

Apple has acquired Pixelmator – the popular Photoshop alternative for Mac, iPad and iPhone users – the creators have confirmed.

In a blog post on Friday, Pixelmator revealed it was signed on the dotted line with Apple and, subject to regulatory approval, be hopping into bed with the iPhone maker.

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 Windows product with a Mac version, Pixelmator almost feels like a native Mac app, aided in part because it isn’t available on Windows.

Pixelmator said as much today, in a blog post confirming 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 its MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac lines 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.