Apple Ending Development on Aperture as Upcoming Photos App for OS X Will Replace iPhoto

aperture_lens_iconApple will no longer continue development on its professional photography application, Aperture, reports The Loop. Instead, the company is working on the Photos app for Mac that it introduced during the Worldwide Developer's Conference.

"With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, there will be no new development of Aperture," said Apple in a statement provided to The Loop. "When Photos for OS X ships next year, users will be able to migrate their existing Aperture libraries to Photos for OS."

The Photos app, which was shown off only briefly during WWDC, will combine with iCloud Photo Library, replacing both Aperture and iPhoto. While Photos will allow users to store, search, and edit photos via the cloud on Apple devices, it is unlikely to include the more robust, professional-oriented tools found in Aperture.

Aperture, which has long lagged behind competing software like Lightroom from Adobe, saw its last major version update to 3.5 on October 22, 2013, and since then, the software has seen just one last minor update. One of the major complaints about Aperture has been its infrequent updates, and many users have wondered if and when Apple would release Aperture 4. With no plans to continue development, professional photographers will want to find another solution, such as Lightroom.

According to TechCrunch, Apple will continue to provide compatibility updates to allow Aperture to run on OS X Yosemite, but development will stop.

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple Just Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever After Beats

Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014. Q.ai has...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...

Top Rated Comments

akm3 Avatar
152 months ago
Woah nelly. It had better be awesome, then.

Like seriously. It needs to have ALL the adjustments...I worry about plug-in capability.

Ugh.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chrjy Avatar
152 months ago
That's going to upset a lot of people!! :eek:
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacrumoursUser Avatar
152 months ago
This new Photos app better be DAMN good if they're killing off Aperture.

Think Pages/Keynote/Numbers. It will be a shadow of its former self.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cambookpro Avatar
152 months ago
I'm glad they're streamlining the (very) bloated iPhoto and providing a better integrated solution, but this really shows how Apple is turning it's back on professionals (hell, even prosumers), who were the main reason Apple and OS X gained popularity early on. :(
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spaceballl Avatar
152 months ago
People,

You're kidding yourself when you say "The new Photos app must be DAMN good" then... It's not about being an Aperture replacement. It's about being for the mass market, hence Apple is giving the option of migrating from Aperture to Light Room. If you like all the features of Aperture, you won't want to go to Photos.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Futurix Avatar
152 months ago
Crap... I really like Aperture, but rather dislike iPhoto. Hopefully Photos will be more like Aperture then.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)