Does Apple Smell Blood in the Water?
Jaron Schneider (Hacker News):
In just the last year and a half, Apple launched Final Cut on iPad and Final Cut Camera, updated Final Cut Pro to a new version for the first time in 13 years, and moved to purchase Pixelmator. As Adobe’s public perception continues to struggle, Apple is making moves to take advantage.
Through the 2010s, Apple didn’t do much on the software front. Sure, it had Final Cut Pro X but the move from version 7 required a complete rewrite of the program’s code. The benefit of this was marked improvement in performance. The downside was a gutting of the app’s features. The negative response to Final Cut Pro X was so strong that Apple lost a large chunk of the professional video editing market and it has since never made up that ground. Most moved to Adobe Premiere which over the next decade would solidify itself as a major player in the professional space, both in small teams and feature-length productions.
But public perception of Adobe has dipped in recent years. The switch to a subscription plan has left many editors dissatisfied, especially considering how inflexible Adobe has been with its plans — the lack of an a la carte option leaves creative professionals either the option to only edit photos or pay for a large number of apps they’ll never use if they want to get Premiere Pro. Performance has also been a regular complaint across Adobe’s ecosystem with Lightroom and Premiere Pro the focus of most of the consternation.
Adobe does seem to have lost a lot of good will, its current offerings are not very good Mac citizens, and Apple doesn’t seem to be promoting them as much. On the other hand, we all remember Aperture and the other pro apps that Apple discontinued. Final Cut Pro and Logic are the anomalies where Apple’s heart stayed in it. With the other creative apps—even iMovie—it just seemed to lose interest.
See also: Accidental Tech Podcast.
Previously:
- Why Is Lightroom Always Generating Thumbnails?
- Final Cut Pro 11 for Mac
- Apple Acquires Pixelmator
- Photoshop Elements Switches to Subscriptions
- U.S. Sues Adobe Over Subscriptions
- Canva Acquires Affinity/Serif
- Adobe Abandons Figma Acquisition
- Adobe at 40
- Elegy for the Native Mac App
- End of the Line for Aperture
- Is Final Cut Pro X Ready for Professional Use?
- Why the Video Pros Are Moving Away From Apple
Update (2024-11-25): John Gruber (Hacker News):
Apple clearly understands the appeal of subscription bundles too, with Apple One. Despite the fact that Apple didn’t switch to subscription pricing for Final Cut Pro 11 for Mac, I still expect them to sooner rather than later, and if they do, I would further expect a bundle. Apple is never going to offer a swath of creative tools as broad as Adobe’s, but the biggest missing pieces right now would be alternatives to Photoshop and Lightroom. My gut feeling is that’s why they acquired Pixelmator and Photomator. They could sell a bundle for, just spitballing here, $20/month or $200/year that would include the Mac and iPad versions of Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator, and possibly Photomator. Maybe throw in some extra iCloud storage.
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I use iMovie from time to time just to stitch some clips together and I'm always surprised that there's no Export option in the file menu.
Share... Wtf
Now that they appear — wishful thinking — to take a similar pro-focused path with photo editing (buying Pixelmator), I wonder if they will now expand into other creative areas. iMovie, Photos, and Garage Band can only go so far. A pro podcast editing tool would make a lot of sense next.
It might be an attempt to save the "native" app, what with the meteoric rise of web first creativity apps like Figma, Canva, Runway, TinkerCAD etc
Not that I think Apple has the capacity for truly strategic moves any more, but in a parallel universe it could have been. Now I think they're just tired of paying Adobe through the nose.
>Apple clearly understands the appeal of subscription bundles too
Is the appeal that you can wring every last dollar out of the residual goodwill you may have with customers? I'd expect today's Apple to go for that, but didn't realize Gruber was this far gone.
