Apple just made a big move to directly challenge Photoshop

Key Takeaways

Pixelmator has announced it is being acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval.
Its app Pixelmator Pro is a Photoshop alternative available for $50.
Pixelmator Pro won best Mac App of the year in 2018.

Pixelmator Pro is image editing software that’s similar to Photoshop. It has an extensive set of tools that allows users to edit and retouch photos, create graphic designs, paintings, and more. Now, in a surprise move, the company has announced that Apple is acquiring it.

“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,” Pixelmator said in a blog post.

The blog post didn’t offer specific details on what the future has in store for Pixelmator, but the company said to “stay tuned for exciting updates to come.” Pixelmator is based in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was founded in 2007.

Pixelmator Pro

Pixelmator Pro is a powerful and easy-to-use image editing software for Mac.

OS: MacOS
What’s included?: Pro image editing software
Brand: Pixelmator Team
Price: $50

Apple just spent over a billion dollars to boost its satellite services efforts

Apple has invested an additional $1.1 billion into GlobalStar, a satellite services provider.

Pixelmator positions itself as an alternative to Photoshop

It’s certainly cheaper than Adobe’s image editing software

Pixelmator / Pocket-lint

Pixelmator Pro has always been an interesting alternative to Photoshop. The app is just $50 in the App Store, making it far cheaper than paying for Photoshop CC every month. Like Photoshop, Pixelmator recently added AI tools, including easily hiding an image’s background.

Apple named Pixelmator Pro its Mac App of the year in 2018. In the blog post, Pixelmator said it’s always been influenced by Apple. “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.”

It’s unclear how long the regulatory process may take for Apple to acquire the Lithuanian company, but other recent deals like Microsoft acquiring Activison Blizzard took 20 months. Some acquisitions have fallen through entirely, like Adobe’s $20 billion deal to acquire Figma last year.

Pixelmator joins other software packages acquired by Apple, such as Final Cut and Logic Pro, which are both still very popular with Mac users to this day.