Apple May Have Acquired Motion Capture Company IKinema [Update: Confirmed]

Apple may have recently acquired UK-based motion capture company IKinema, based on evidence from company filings and information shared by a MacRumors reader.

IKinema offers animation technology that's used for games, virtual reality, and more. Earlier this year, for example, IKinema partnered with Ubisoft for IKinema's RunTime software for character creation. IKinema specialized in technology that allowed for real-time motion animation of virtual characters.

ikinema1

IKINEMA's technology is embraced by development teams the world over to bring their games to life through delivery of high fidelity results in natural character locomotion and greater player immersion within dynamic game worlds, including substantial cost reduction and accelerated production levels by a factor of five times or more to expedite the release of games to market.

Based on details from IKinema's mostly defunct website, the company considers itself a specialist in real-time procedural animation and whole body solving technology. IKinema has several videos on YouTube showing off its technology creating animated characters from real-life people, dogs, and more.


According to a document filed with the UK government, Apple lawyer Peter Denwood, who handles Apple's international affairs, was named the director of IKinema on September 12, 2019, with his address listed as One Apple Park Way.

ikinemaapplelawyer
The address of the company was also updated to 100 New Bridge Street in London on September 26, which is the address for Apple Europe Limited.

ikinemaaddress
The IKinema website is no longer functional with the exception of a few technical documents, and the company's Twitter and Facebook accounts stopped being updated on August 19. MacRumors reader Peter, who is in the industry, told MacRumors that IKinema customers have been left in the dark "for weeks" and that the acquisition was confirmed in a private Facebook Motion Capture group this morning.

ikinema2
It's not clear what Apple will do with IKinema's technology, but Apple has delved into games with Apple Arcade, though the company does not develop its own game technology at this time.

Apple is also rumored to be working on various virtual and augmented reality projects, which could potentially benefit from IKinema's software, as could Animoji and Memoji, which animate based on facial expressions using the TrueDepth camera system.

Update October 4 7:55 a.m.: Apple has confirmed its acquisition of IKinema, giving Tim Bradshaw of Financial Times the company's usual boilerplate statement: "Apple buys smaller companies from time to time, and we generally don't discuss our purpose or plans."

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Friday January 2, 2026 4:33 pm PST by
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 ...
govee floor lamp

CES 2026: Govee Announces New Matter-Connected Ceiling and Floor Lights

Sunday January 4, 2026 5:00 am PST by
Govee today introduced three new HomeKit-compatible lighting products, including the Govee Floor Lamp 3, the Govee Ceiling Light Ultra, and the Govee Sky Ceiling Light. The Govee Floor Lamp 3 is the successor to the Floor Lamp 2, and it offers Matter integration with the option to connect to HomeKit. The Floor Lamp 3 offers an upgraded LuminBlend+ lighting system that can reproduce 281...
Belkin 25W Battery magnetic

CES 2026: Belkin Announces Magnetic Ring Power Bank, Modular Dock, and More

Sunday January 4, 2026 3:02 pm PST by
Belkin today announced a range of new charging and connectivity accessories at CES 2026, expanding its portfolio of products aimed at Apple device users. UltraCharge Pro Power Bank 10K with Magnetic Ring The lineup includes new Qi2 and Qi2.2 wireless chargers, magnetic power banks, a high-capacity laptop battery, and USB-C productivity accessories, with an emphasis on higher charging...
airpods pro 3 glitter

AirPods New Year's Deals Include Up to $99 Off AirPods Max, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Sunday January 4, 2026 8:04 am PST by
Now that the calendar has flipped over into January, steep discounts on popular Apple products have become more rare after the holidays. However, if you didn't get a new pair of AirPods recently and are looking for a model on sale, Amazon does have a few solid second-best prices this week. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Low-Price 12.9-Inch MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Reportedly Launching Early This Year

Friday January 2, 2026 9:08 am PST by
Apple plans to introduce a 12.9-inch MacBook in spring 2026, according to TrendForce. In a press release this week, the Taiwanese research firm said this MacBook will be aimed at the entry-level to mid-range market, with "competitive pricing." TrendForce did not share any further details about this MacBook, but the information that it shared lines up with several rumors about a more...
Clicks Communicator Feature

'Clicks Communicator' Unveiled — Will You Carry This With Your iPhone?

Friday January 2, 2026 6:35 am PST by
The company behind the BlackBerry-like Clicks Keyboard accessory for the iPhone today unveiled a new Android 16 smartphone called the Clicks Communicator. The purpose-built device is designed to be used as a second phone alongside your iPhone, with the intended focus being communication over content consumption. It runs a custom Android launcher that offers a curated selection of messaging...

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
82 months ago

One of these days, Apple will acquire IKEA, and rename it iKea. The prices of everything they sell will skyrocket, but on the plus size, the furniture and housewares will get thinner and thinner.

The Apple iTorp 3S+ sofa group will have a triple-lens camera system, and be only a foot wide. Will make it tough to sit on, and as it will be made mostly of glass, it will be fairly fragile, but GOD will it take fantastic selfies, even in low light! AND it will be able to connect wirelessly to the internet!

Only $4,278.95 with 6GB of CLSDDR4 RAM... (Chaise Lounge Sofa Double Data Rate 4th generation Random Access Memory,) and 32GB storage for the base model. Of course, what Apple won’t tell you is that furnitureOS takes 28GB of storage to work. Never mind why a SOFA needs RAM...

I could be wrong, but it would be really funny. The alternative is that IKEA gets a BUNCH of money from somewhere and buys Apple. The next year, they announce the new iPhøn, which you have to assemble yourself from 178 individual parts, and the instructions are of course, almost free of words, just pictographs showing someone with REALLY tiny hands putting things together, and the obligatory sketch of someone with GIANT hands, (by which I mean regular-sized hands,) on a frustrated person, unable to even pick up or hold the tiny bits, smiling while calling customer service for help, and customer service sending a tiny little pixie of a person in a blue-striped, yellow colored IKEA uniform, over to assist the customer.

For a fee, of course.
That was a lot of effort for very little reward.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kanki1985 Avatar
82 months ago
That would make an amazing addition to the animoji team!! Well done Apple!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apparatchik Avatar
82 months ago

PowerBeats Pro are pretty slick. Other than those and the W1 chip, Apple hasn’t really done much with Beats. Oh and Apple Music / Beats Radio.
I just bought ones, they’re pretty good, Im a freelancer developer, they’re great for taking calls and for switching between iPhone/Mac, I can be making lunch or dinner, skip songs, call someone throw siri, without using my hands and with the phone charging upstairs. It’s not perfect and not exactly cheap but they’re great nonetheless.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Khedron Avatar
82 months ago
Petmoji confirmed
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
halluxsinister Avatar
82 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/03/apple-acquisition-ikinema/')


Apple may have recently acquired UK-based motion capture company IKinema ('https://www.ikinema.com'), based on evidence from company filings and information shared by a MacRumors reader.

IKinema offers animation technology that's used for games, virtual reality, and more. Earlier this year, for example, IKinema partnered with ('https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/346338/IKINEMA_powers_Ubisoft_to_deliver_immersive_and_believable_games_faster.php') Ubisoft for IKinema's RunTime software for character creation. IKinema specialized in technology that allowed for real-time motion animation of virtual characters.


Based on details ('https://www.ikinema.com/docs/index.html') from IKinema's mostly defunct website, the company considers itself a specialist in real-time procedural animation and whole body solving technology. IKinema has several videos on YouTube showing off its technology creating animated characters from real-life people, dogs, and more.



According to a document filed with the UK government, Apple lawyer Peter Denwood ('https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-denwood-9a71244/'), who handles Apple's international affairs, was named the director of IKinema on September 12, 2019, with his address listed as One Apple Park Way.



The address of the company was also updated to 100 New Bridge Street in London on September 26, which is the address for Apple Europe Limited.



The IKinema website is no longer functional with the exception of a few technical documents, and the company's Twitter and Facebook accounts stopped being updated on August 19. A MacRumors reader in the industry told MacRumors that IKinema customers have been left in the dark "for weeks" and that the acquisition was confirmed in a private Facebook Motion Capture group this morning.



It's not clear what Apple will do with IKinema's technology, but Apple has delved into games with Apple Arcade, though the company does not develop its own game technology at this time.

Apple is also rumored to be working on various virtual and augmented reality projects, which could potentially benefit from IKinema's software, as could Animoji and Memoji, which animate based on facial expressions using the TrueDepth camera system.

Article Link: Apple May Have Acquired Motion Capture Company IKinema ('https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/03/apple-acquisition-ikinema/')
One of these days, Apple will acquire IKEA, and rename it iKea. The prices of everything they sell will skyrocket, but on the plus size, the furniture and housewares will get thinner and thinner.

The Apple iTorp 3S+ sofa group will have a triple-lens camera system, and be only a foot wide. Will make it tough to sit on, and as it will be made mostly of glass, it will be fairly fragile, but GOD will it take fantastic selfies, even in low light! AND it will be able to connect wirelessly to the internet!

Only $4,278.95 with 6GB of CLSDDR4 RAM... (Chaise Lounge Sofa Double Data Rate 4th generation Random Access Memory,) and 32GB storage for the base model. Of course, what Apple won’t tell you is that furnitureOS takes 28GB of storage to work. Never mind why a SOFA needs RAM...

I could be wrong, but it would be really funny. The alternative is that IKEA gets a BUNCH of money from somewhere and buys Apple. The next year, they announce the new iPhøn, which you have to assemble yourself from 178 individual parts, and the instructions are of course, almost free of words, just pictographs showing someone with REALLY tiny hands putting things together, and the obligatory sketch of someone with GIANT hands, (by which I mean regular-sized hands,) on a frustrated person, unable to even pick up or hold the tiny bits, smiling while calling customer service for help, and customer service sending a tiny little pixie of a person in a blue-striped, yellow colored IKEA uniform, over to assist the customer.

For a fee, of course.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dan110 Avatar
82 months ago
Apple will essentially become the American version of Sony Corp.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)