Popular image editor app Pixelmator Pro has released version 2.0 ahead of schedule, bringing an all-new design for macOS Big Sur and native support for Macs powered by Apple's new M1 chip.
The new design features a simplified Effects Browser that makes it easier to find and apply effects, and new compact layouts for the sidebars and presets.
There's also a new Workspaces feature that lets users customize the look of Pixelmator, with presets optimized for photo editing, design, illustration, and painting.
With native support for Apple's new M1-powered Macs, Pixelmator Pro 2.0 takes advantage of the chip's 16-core Neural Engine for accelerated machine learning. This allows for features like Super Resolution, which intelligently increases the resolution of images while preserving details, to work up to 15x faster.
The editing engine is powered by Metal, which makes it easy for the app to take full advantage of the unified memory architecture in Apple's system-on-a-chip. There's also a new app icon that aligns with Apple's docked apps, and a new unified toolbar with switches and menus that look native to the macOS 11 Big Sur aesthetic.
Pixelmator 2.0 is a Universal app, so it runs natively on both M1 and Intel-based Macs. The image editing app is a free upgrade for existing Pixelmator Pro users, otherwise it costs $39.99 and can be downloaded directly from the Mac App Store.
