Apple Will Pull Aperture this Spring, But It Will Continue to Work

Aperture 3Apple told customers Thursday that Aperture will no longer be available for sale in the App Store once Photos for OS X and iOS is released "this spring." The company stipulated, however, that Aperture will continue to work in OS X Yosemite.

Apple also said that when Aperture owners migrate to Photos, their Aperture libraries would remain untouched. Aperture and Photos won't share a library, so once you migrate, Aperture and Photos won't speak to each other.

Photos is Apple's impending replacement for both the professional Aperture app and the consumer iPhoto. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't have many of the features that professionals need in a photo management app.

Some pros have already migrated to Adobe's Lightroom, while others are waiting to see what Apple adds to Photos in future updates. Traditionally, when Apple moves to a new piece of software, it releases a basic version and then adds in missing features over time.

In the meanwhile, Aperture is available on the Mac App Store for US$79.99.

Apple's email in full:

Dear Aperture customer,

Last June, we introduced the new Photos apps for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, along with
iCloud Photo Library, which lets you safely store all your photos in iCloud and access them
from anywhere.

When Photos for OS X launches this spring, Aperture will no longer be available for purchase
from the Mac App Store. You can continue to use Aperture on OS X Yosemite, but you will not
be able to buy additional copies of the app.

You can migrate your Aperture library to Photos for OS X, including your photos, adjustments,
albums, and keywords. After migrating, your Aperture library remains intact. However, Aperture
and Photos do not share a unified library, so any changes made after the migration will not be
shared between the apps.

To learn more about Photos for OS X, click here. If you’re interested in trying the OS X 10.10.3
Public Beta, which includes Photos for OS X, click here.

We thank you for using Aperture and hope you will enjoy the new Photos for OS X app.

Sincerely,
Apple