Apple Speeds Up Aperture, Drops Price

Apple announced the immediate availability of Aperture 1.1 on Thursday. Aperture is a Universal Binary application that works like a photographeris light table for organizing and editing digital images. The new version adds improved support for RAW images, including improved sharpening, highlight recovery and noise reduction; dramatic speed improvements; and a new color meter that displays color values as RGB, CMKY or LAB in the the Adjustments and Loupe views. It also adds support for several more cameras including the Nikon D200 and Canon 30D.

If you already own Aperture 1.0, Apple is also offering a US$200 gift coupon that is redeemable at the online Apple Store. Aperture 1.1 is a now priced at $299, and is available as a free update to current version 1.0 users.