It’s the End of the Line for Pixelmator for iOS

As Apple prepares to finally bring Pixelmator Pro to the iPad later this month, it’s also playing taps for the photo editing app that started it all. While the original Pixelmator for the iPhone and iPad will remain on the App Store for the foreseeable future, Apple has confirmed that it will not receive any future updates.

Pixelmator (the company) began its story as a small group of developers in Lithuania that released an eponymous Mac photo-editing app in 2007. Seven years later, it introduced Pixelmator for the iPad, followed by an iPhone version in 2015. While the company later branched out to the much more powerful Pixelmator Pro on the Mac, along with a more Adobe Lightroom-like Photomator app, the original Pixelmator remained its solution for iPhone and iPad users.

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Pixelmator’s apps always lived at the leading edge of the curve when it came to adopting Apple’s latest technologies. Pixelmator Pro 2.0 added support for Apple Silicon the same month the first M1 Macs launched, a full six months before Adobe followed suit with Photoshop, and Pixelmator for iOS was available for the Vision Pro on day one.

So, it wasn’t too surprising when Apple acquired Pixelmator in late 2024. Apple clearly felt the award-winning photo editing app was an ideal fit into its creative ambitions, and while nobody was quite sure at the time what Apple would do with it, many predicted we’d see something like the Creative Studio bundle that Apple announced earlier today.

Pixelmator Pro is a natural “Photoshop” companion to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, and Apple will be bringing it to the iPad to complete the creative collection on both platforms. However, that also lives the original Pixelmator for iOS in a sort of limbo.

With Pixelmator Pro available on the iPad, it’s fair to say that Pixelmator for iOS, which Apple now refers to as “Pixelmator Classic” to match the legacy Mac version, will gradually fade into the background, and Apple has officially confirmed that while it will remain on the App Store and keep working for now, there won’t be any future updates.

That will eventually leave iPhone users out in the cold. There’s no word on a Pixelmator Pro for iPhone, and we’re not really expecting Apple to release an iPhone version any more than it has for Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro. For now, Pixelmator Classic will keep on working on the iPhone, but it’s hard to say whether a future iOS update will create compatibility problems, and if so, whether Apple will release a minor update to address those or simply pull the app entirely from the App Store, leaving a pro-shaped hole for the iPhone. As with Final Cut Pro, where released Final Cut Pro for iPad with a Final Cut Camera companion app for the iPhone, it seems that Apple sees the iPhone more for consumption and capture than creation.

However, it’s not just iPhone users who may eventually suffer the loss of Pixelmator. While Pixelmator Pro for iPad is promising, it’s also limited to recent and higher-end iPad models, requiring an A16 or M1 chip or newer. That includes any iPad Air or iPad Pro released since 2021, but only the very latest iPad mini and entry-level iPad models. Older iPad models will still have to rely on Pixelmator Classic.

It’s also notable that while the original Pixelmator for iOS was a $10 one-time purchase, its successor is the next step in Apple’s push to monetize its creative suite. While Pixelmator Pro remains a $49.99 standalone purchase on the Mac, Apple’s new Creator Studio FAQ suggests that for iPad users, the “buy once, own forever” era is officially over.

To be fair, that began with Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, which both adopted the subscription model when they came to the iPad, leaving long-time Mac users with the awkward choice of “renting” iPad companions to the Mac apps they already owned. Pixelmator Pro for iPad will undoubtedly continue this trend, but it remains to be seen whether Apple will still offer “a la carte” subscriptions or force everyone into the Creator Studio bundle.

While Pixelmator may eventually ride off into the sunset, the silver lining is that things appear to be business as usual for the company’s other app, Photomator, which Apple has said “remains available as a separate purchase from the App Store, without any mention of updates ceasing.