Apple acquired the app-making team at Pixelmator in late 2024, with the acquisition closing nearly one year ago. Now, in the first major change since the acquisition, Pixelmator Pro is coming to iPad alongside the launch of Apple Creator Studio.
Pixelmator Pro launches January 28 on iPad alongside Apple Creator Studio
From Apple’s press release about the forthcoming Apple Creator Studio:
For the first time, Pixelmator Pro is coming to iPad, bringing an all-new touch-optimized workspace, full Apple Pencil support, the ability to work between iPad and Mac, and all of the powerful editing tools users have come to appreciate on Mac. Pixelmator Pro for iPad offers fast and efficient image editing, leveraging the blazing performance of Apple silicon and built from scratch for the latest iPadOS.
Intuitive touch controls make it even easier to create desktop-class designs wherever users take their iPad. The full-featured Layers sidebar allows creators to build designs using a range of unique elements like images, shapes, text, and even video. Smart selection tools help users isolate and edit specific parts of images effortlessly, and with advanced bitmap and vector masks, users can hide or reveal discrete portions of their designs. The deep integration of hardware, software, and Apple silicon unlocks features like Super Resolution for intelligently upscaling photos, Deband for removing compression artifacts, and automatic composition suggestions with Auto Crop. With full support for Apple Pencil, digital artists can enjoy painting in the most natural way with a beautiful collection of pressure-sensitive brushes. And unmatched Apple Pencil precision — combined with features like hover, squeeze, and double-tap — gives creators the ability to craft pixel-perfect designs.
In other words, the full power of the Pixelmator Pro app for Mac appears to be built into the new iPad app.
The new iPad version of Pixelmator Pro will be available Wednesday, January 28.
It requires hardware featuring the A16, A17 Pro, or M1 chip or later running iPadOS 26 or later.
Based on the press release, it’s not entirely clear whether Apple Creator Studio is required to get the new iPad app. The Mac version will be available as a one-time purchase of $49.99, but Apple doesn’t specifically mention a similar purchase option for iPad.
Pixelmator Pro has always been Mac-only, despite the original Pixelmator app being available for both iPhone and iPad too. But that app has received minimal updates in recent years. Even before the Apple acquisition, the team behind Pixelmator focused most of its efforts on Pixelmator Pro for Mac.
Interestingly, even if you buy the Mac version as a one-time purchase, Apple is locking at least one Pixelmator Pro feature behind the new Apple Creator Studio subscription.
Additionally, for Apple Creator Studio subscribers, both Pixelmator Pro for Mac and iPad bring a powerful new Warp tool for twisting and shaping layers any way creatives can imagine, alongside a beautiful collection of Warp-powered product mockups.
Certain exclusive features are being offered in the Apple Creator Studio subscription for other apps too, like Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.
Are you excited to use Pixelmator Pro on iPad? Let us know in the comments.
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