Michal Ždanský At the developer conference WWDC 2014, Apple showed a new Photos application, which is supposed to unify the software for managing and editing photos on iOS and OS X. It demonstrated the unification, for example, by transferring individual settings and adjustments to photos, where changes are immediately reflected on all devices. As this is not software aimed directly at professionals, photographers relying on Apple software are likely to be sorely disappointed. Apple sees the future in Photos and will no longer develop professional Aperture software.
This was confirmed by one of the server's software engineers The Loop: “When we launch the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, allowing users to securely store all their photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, Aperture will end development. When Photos for OS X is released next year, users will be able to transfer their existing Aperture libraries to Photos on that operating system.”
Photographers will no longer receive an updated version of Aperture, unlike video editors and musicians with Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X. Instead, they will have to use other software, such as Adobe Lightroom. Among other things, the Photos application is supposed to replace iPhoto, so Apple will probably offer only one application for managing and editing photos next year. However, the fate of Final Cut and Logic Pro is not sealed. Apple will continue to develop its professional software, only Aperture will no longer be one of them. The application thus ends its nine-year journey. Apple sold the first version as a box for $499, the current version of Aperture is offered in the Mac App Store for $79.
nice rip off… Apple created this segment of software :/
I've been using Aperture since version 2, and it's always suited me better for cataloging and editing than Lightroom, and the RAW converter was better (even if it doesn't have Capture NX2 for Nikon). I think that waiting for the support of 10-bit monitors in OS X is also pointless, in Cupertine they decided that I will all write with a blue pen….er, take jpegs with an iPhone and edit with Instagram.
Amen brother…
Stumbling block? I would rather call it an economic reality. If they had an interesting profit from that product, it wouldn't end.
These are just guesses, if there were regular updates like Adobe does with Lightroom, everything would be different. Apple is not a company that decides in one day. The decision to cancel aperture had to come a long time ago. It just doesn't fit into their plans. Pro users are no longer interested in them. As richard writes: "in Cupertino, they decided that I would all write with a blue pen....er, take iPhone jpegs and edit with Instagram."
Sorry, but if you think that Apple made this decision on the basis of business time, then you don't understand that Apple works significantly differently than other corporations, even if they have said that several times in recent advertisements ;)
I thought about this step for a long time, read a few opinions from people whose opinion in the field of digital photography I respect, watched (not read) the WWDC 2014 video about improvements in Core Image once again (I recommend it to anyone who understands English) and I think I'm more clear it concerns the future.
The emergence of the Photos app is not the end of Apple's support for photographers, but a restart. And the future? An unimaginable number of add-ons that will expand Photos data - developers will have a new market, customers will have far more options than any company can offer (including Adobe), synchronization and editing via iOS devices will no longer be like 'lipstick on a pig' (yes, I mean Adobe ).
Well, I take into account that Photos will not have the capabilities that Aperture has, and especially that from the first day, expanding plugins will not be available.
But what still angers me (even if it passes for a while:) is how long Apple has literally spent on updates and adding new functionality. Capture One 7 Pro is exactly what I wanted from Aperture – lens correction, keystone, better processing of Highlights&Shadows, color correction, ICC profiles, Clarity&Sharpening tools, but especially Adjustments as layers (make it clear what each adjustment does).
Lightroom is not an alternative for me - Adobe as a company is the worst developer in the Apple camp (switching to OS X, Cocoa...), their UI is disgusting and ACR processes NEFs from my Nikon D3s better (than Aperture). In addition, there is a precedent with the SAAS subscription model, which I do not see with all my heart. I have purchased Photoshop CS6 Extended and the transition to CC can easily be done from Lightroom 6 as well. From a long-term perspective, SAAS is a much, much more expensive solution than the license itself, and I don't devote myself to photography only 2-3 days a month.
So I still have 2 days to test Capture One 7 Pro and buy a license for 50%. Version 8 is expected this year, but the way it makes adjustments is already enough for me. I'll keep Aperture on the DAM of finished stuff, and I'll go through Capture for new stuff.
just to add - the restart is not about support, but a restart of the digital workflow and the existing linear processing of photos.
Apple will bring us into the 21st century in the field of digital photography, but it will hurt a little at first. Well, as usual, no other company has the balls to do it ;)
Very nice comment (article). I don't understand that I keep the aperture on DAM. Otherwise, I'm also thinking about capture one 7 pro, in the near future when I'm free from work, I'll test it, just like I'll definitely test Lightroom as well. I want to ask how does photo editing work in capture one? Is it a catalog system like in aperture or lightromm? Otherwise, I've only heard praise for him..
I won't give Aperture away, I'll keep it as a 'photo album' for finished photos (jpg or tif)... I used that application to take my first photo steps and I don't have the heart to delete it :)
The photo management system in CO is similar to Aperture/Lightroom - containers and 'referenced files' work there.
The adjustments I have tried in CO on older photos from Canon, but also the new ones I took a week ago are very good. I'm still going to try on a few things, but I'm more or less decided to buy it today.
What is completely luxurious (at least for me) is to have a browser with all the photos on the MBP and make adjustments on the 23″ Cineme…. I couldn't get Aperture to display it like this :/
That's how Honza Březina made a book about Aperture for no reason.
Whaaaaaat?! Today is not April. It must be an email
Fuck off ... after the cancellation of macbooks 17″ and this other piece of shit, it is clear that apple has definitively written off the category of users that was the only one that kept it afloat in the old decline and focused only on the mainstream and on professional users from many fields from above …
I hope they don't interfere with other software -_- Theirs is far better than Adobe and is the reason I buy Macs. I work in Final Cut, Motion, and I thought about Aperture because of the good price and nice environment. Is Apple killing this segment? I don't want to believe it….
I am terribly disappointed, instead of aperture 4 we got a huge betrayal. What should I do now? I won't transfer my huge aperture catalogs anywhere, damn it. I did not expect such behavior from apple. I'm disgusted that they hurt.
You keep the catalogs in the existing Aperture and that's it.
Yes in yosemite and then? Aperture will no longer be supported for other x-axes
stay at Yosemite? Or will Apple's solution be sufficient until then? Or resolve with Adobe support and switch to LR? It sucks too. so I think with you. Fortunately, I switched fairly recently so I don't have that much. Just export the edited photos or Photos will do it and you can continue with another solution. I'll kick it and continue as usual in Win7
yes, it also seems like the only solution to me. Export jpg.
But I feel sorry for the originals. It's almost like a step back when I took photos in jpg and edited in corel paint shop pro photo. Clearly the only alternative is Lightroom. But I'm a bit worried about my aperture habit. I will have trouble getting used to managing photos in Lightroom. I read a lot of bad things about it. Also the cloud solution? Will I have to pay fees for the rest of my life? Just to get to my photos? I don't understand the new adobe policy at all. Or is it possible to buy a license without a subscription?
To Cambron: Did you read the article? I can transfer the library to Photos without problems
Joer, did you read the article?
Photos will not have all the tools from aperture. The edits are just small files next to the original. And when exporting, the reader applies these adjustments to the original. Now tell me how he applies them to the original when he doesn't recognize these instruments? And it's not just that at all. I switched to mac because of aperture, I trusted apple to support and develop it.
Can I use the discussion to ask about alternatives to Aperture in both similar quality and price? possibly what is in the cz also for editing photos in RAW.
I hesitate what to buy
defacto there is nothing of similar quality and price :( There are things of similar (even better) quality, but for much more money, then there are cheaper variants, they are limited. I will not name them, because I do not know them, anyway it is generally so.
A few days ago I started to decide whether to stay with Aperture or switch to Lightroom, since I'm already paying for it because of Photoshop...
adobe Lightroom, or capture one, but that capture one probably doesn't catalog photos, I'm not sure. In my opinion, lightroom is probably the only possible alternative..
hmm, they must be very happy in adobe :(
Maybe that's why Adobe launched Creative Cloud for photographers a few days ago, where only Photoshop and Lightroom are available at a reduced price :-)
It already stated about 1/2 year ago. I bought it myself for 12 EUR in March. It only got worse a few days ago. Now there is only 2GB of cloud.
Previously, it was only for people owning a PS license (+ about two short events when this restriction did not apply), now it is permanent for everyone, but with less space in the cloud.
I never had a PS license. It was an event, I guess, from January to March, with the fact that it mysteriously didn't end in March and continued and now freely switched to the 2GB. I spent a long time deciding whether to go for it.
what is the meaning of the cloud for a professional photographer? My libraries are around 500Gb, I don't understand the use of the cloud.
So I'm switching to Apple mainly because of the SW, so I'm looking forward to switching it back again soon and leaving the standard Win on the iMac. But I think they will come up with some sufficient concept or change the decision.
I paid for Aperture twice, once on CD and then again in the App Store. I use it and was looking forward to the "upgrade/update". Is there any chance that this is just a misinterpretation of iPhoto and Aperture being merged into one application with the same functionality?
Presumably. I also paid it twice :-)
I got Aperture in the AppStore when I switched to Maverick, so just paying for the CD
Yes, APPLE has become a money grabber like, for example, CocaCola = everyone swears at it and most of them drink it sometimes, but there are also those who have banned it.... I stop liking APPLE since iOS 7! Well, let's show up / let's show up and confirm our disillusionment and ditch Apple…. Of course it's hard - but I'm getting ready!
Apple continues to troll :D
Professionals helped Apple significantly when they stayed true to it in the worst times, and now Apple is showing them an upright middleman. First he canceled xserve, then he made Final Cut worse, and now he's ruining Aperture.
What do we get next time? A 4GB iPod nano in new colors with a 3MP camera and a 480p camera for $99? Or a mac mini with a 1.4GHz processor, 4GB of non-expandable RAM and a 5200 RPM hard drive for $499?
I don't understand the Apple policy. In the end, the market will show whether it was the right move.
perhaps the wave of resentment will talk them out of it, but for how long?
I just don't understand the disappointment when none of you have had a chance to try Photos for OS X yet. I'm probably looking forward to it, and I own Aperture.
Photos looks good, I'm more afraid of how much they will cut down Aperture's options. Also if Photos will be a basic app like iPhoto and have advanced features, for free?
I live by photography and aperture is my working tool. Photos doesn't even have a tool for professionals like Aperture. I switched to mac for aperture. Subsequently, I fell in love with this brand and bought an iPhone, then a wife. That's why I'm disappointed. If it wasn't for aperture, I probably wouldn't know Apple today...
And you know that Photos will be worse? You are used to Aperture, so am I, just like you, I make a living from it. And that's why I will only judge the real product. And if it doesn't suit me, I'll continue to enjoy Aperture, I'm sure Apple will - if not develop it, then support it for some time.
it won't be "worse". It might even be better.
It just won't be for professionals, so what might seem like "super-hyper cool must have features and enhancements" to the average user will probably be of no use to the photographer...
And why is it important for you to distinguish "professionals" from ordinary users? For some feeling that you are "better"? :-) Just like your "useless photographer". Are you trying to differentiate yourself? ….. I repeat, I personally also make a living by taking photos and quite decently, but I don’t consider myself a “professional” and I would like to wait to see what this app comes up with. …. Otherwise, I know real professionals, and you will be surprised that they often use not only completely ordinary old cameras bought for a few hundred crowns, but also iPhones and often use "ordinary iPhoto" for work, for example. And believe me, no one knows the difference, not even you. :-) A good photo is not in the camera or software, but in the head and hands.
According to my understanding of the meaning of the word, a professional is someone who makes a living from the activity. It has nothing to do with whether he can or not. It's his source of income, so he's a professional, and if he's a good enough salesman to sell something that any advanced photographer would be ashamed of, he's still a professional.
I don't take photos for a living and I'm not a professional. I'm still an amateur, both in my sense of understanding the meaning and in yours as well :-)
But I'll give an example - I'm going to make coffee. I take the kettle, fill it with water, let it boil, and only then take the mug, look for coffee and a spoon, pour the coffee into the mug, and in the meantime the water boils.
If I did it the other way around (i.e. start with the mug and only then boil the water), it would take me a lot more time. And since I don't make coffee for a living, I have to minimize the time it takes to do this, so that I have more time for professional work that will bring me profit.
It is similar with Aperture/iPhoto/Photos. Nine out of ten moms on maternity leave need to download photos from the camera, sort them into the folders "Baby for the first time alone" (281 photos), "Baby crawling" (324 photos) and upload them to Facebook. This is the functionality that the program requires - to make folders and, if possible, create albums on Facebook with one button and start recording.
A professional photographer (you may be misleading me, but this is my idea of a person who does this for a living) uploads photos, discards those that are not sharp, discards those that someone blinked at, "stars" similar photos so that he can select one and delete the others. Then it looks at the histogram and starts cropping, checks the white balance, checks the exposure, etc., etc.
And to top it off – a professional photographer can batch edit metadata, keywords, or compare the tonality of a series by editing one photo and then copying the edits. In some cases, batch processing can save a huge amount of time and thereby increase work efficiency.
The above features will never be used by "mom" and therefore a profit-oriented software developer will not deal with them (now I mean in general, I sure hope Apple never degrades to such a degree). Functions that are used by one in ten paying customers are inefficient because they cost something to program, the software "bloats" and the risk of introducing errors increases.
And if we were to look into our conscience - which way would any of us choose if we were paid nine money for the same job and ten money for significantly more work. Personally, I would go the first way and when I got paid nine money, I would start working on the next project, which will again make nine money :-)
Sorry, I kind of rambled on :-)
I don't have Aperture, I've never needed its features. However, I feel this is a bit of a letdown from Apple to those who use and need Aperture.
From my point of view - iPhoto is slow and quite outdated, it needed a new version that would dig it up a bit. And that's what Photos will bring. So I am excited about this app. The only question is whether Apple will really think about those who have held it for years. Leaving Pro scenes seems pointless to me.
a few years ago I was thinking about aperture or lightroom .. it seems I made the wrong decision :(