Apple Notifying Aperture Users of Impending Removal From Mac App Store - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Notifying Aperture Users of Impending Removal From Mac App Store

Photos for OS X iMacApple has sent an email to Aperture customers this afternoon as a reminder about the impending removal of the professional photo editing software from the Mac App Store. The email confirms that Aperture will be removed from the Mac App Store upon the release of Photos for OS X as we initially reported last month.

"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."

Aperture users will be able to continue using the software on OS X Yosemite following its discontinuation, although the app will no longer be available for purchase on the Mac App Store and new feature updates are not planned. Aperture users can migrate their photo libraries to Photos for OS X, including photos, adjustments, albums and keywords.

Photos for OS X will be available this spring for OS X Yosemite.

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces. The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
imac video apple feature

Apple Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever This Year

Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019. Q.ai...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Twelve Changes Coming to Apple's Next Flagship

Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
149 months ago
The biggest flaw in Photos is that it's all or nothing when it comes to putting your photos on iCloud.

I'd rather have a subset of my photos in iCloud, and keep the rest archived on my computer and not using up iCloud space.

It just shows that Apple seems to be doing this to sell iCloud subscriptions, and not to improve the user experience.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Art0fLife Avatar
149 months ago
If I purchased it will I still be able to download it on a new (or restored) mac in the future?
I would assume so. I have purchased several now discontinued apps in the past and they all are still available under "Purchased" for me, however no longer developed or updated. I don't see why they would make this one different? Unless maybe official Apple software works differently than discontinued software from other developers.

Edit: Sad to see Aperture go. I really love it. Photos feels promising now that I've been working with it for a while but I am already missing a few things from Aperture. Not enough to pay Adobe, but hoping Photos gets developed further or even some add ons come out eventually that we can buy.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ted13 Avatar
149 months ago
Very upset because Photos eliminates crucial Aperture features like "Flagged" which I use constantly. Also upset because last year, once the writing was on the wall, I made a concerted effort to use and learn Lightroom, and I just did not like it for various reasons, and I didn't get to be remotely as fast I was in Aperture.

Screwed.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Art0fLife Avatar
149 months ago
I'm not sad to see it go because it was SO FAR BEHIND what it should have been, I just want to make sure that if my mac burns in a fire or something, I can get a new mac, install aperture, and open old aperture libraries/vaults

I just talked to Apple via chat, because I was curious as well. They confirmed what I said. It will be like any other app. Once discontinued, you can still download it, but cannot buy additional copies. They also said they will keep it functional through Yosemite's life cycle but it won't be updated for future versions of OS X. Still available and may or may not work down the road with whatever follows Yosemite, but it will keep working with Yosemite and you can still download it from the Apple ID you purchased it with prior to it's discontinuation.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
149 months ago
The biggest flaw in Photos is that it's all or nothing when it comes to putting your photos on iCloud.

I'd rather have a subset of my photos in iCloud, and keep the rest archived on my computer and not using up iCloud space.

It just shows that Apple seems to be doing this to sell iCloud subscriptions, and not to improve the user experience.

You can actually keep multiple libraries in OS X Photos! Hold the option key while starting the application, and it will ask you which library to use (or create a new one). Only the 'system' library will be attached to iCloud (if you choose to), and I'm personally keeping my 500GB+ Aperture library as a separate, local Photos library.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
149 months ago
If I purchased it will I still be able to download it on a new (or restored) mac in the future?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors