Apple keeps acquiring companies with one clear goal in mind

Apple acquires a variety of companies every year, and recently many of its acquisitions—including the latest, Samplab—have revolved around one clear goal: improving and expanding Apple Creator Studio.

Apple has prioritized Creator Studio with recent acquisitions, strengthening ecosystem for creatives

Next week, Apple is expected to unveil four new hardware products aimed at creatives: a redesigned MacBook Pro with touch, modernized iPad mini, and M6 versions of the iMac and MacBook Pro.

But hardware is only one part of Apple’s creator-focused push.

All year long, the company has sought to strengthen its ecosystem of tools for creatives by launching Apple Creator Studio and acquiring companies that expand its feature set.

Apple Creator Studio debuted in January as a suite of pro apps for creatives, such as Pixelmator Pro, Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, and more.

The service has regularly rolled out new features since launch, but we’ve also seen Apple invest behind-the-scenes with acquisitions that clearly have Creator Studio in mind.

In the spring we learned of two acquisitions that fit the bill. MotionVFX provided “visual effects templates, plugins, and motion graphics tools” for Final Cut Pro. Color.io brought tools for “color management and grading of digital imaging,” likely with Final Cut and/or Pixelmator in mind.

Now the latest acquisition revealed yesterday, Samplab, pitched itself as the “ultimate audio editor for musicians,” making its features a natural fit for Logic Pro. And even the recent acqui-hire of Huxe could have Creator Studio benefits too.

Why invest so much in Creator Studio? Obviously the chance to grow services revenue is reason enough. But I suspect the company also sees the app suite as a key component of its overall pitch to creatives.

Apple has long focused on bringing hardware, software, and services together in a seamless ecosystem. And its recent efforts on the software and services side are set to dovetail nicely with next week’s new hardware. All this to say, expect to see Creator Studio apps get some spotlight during Apple’s ‘Pro and tell’ announcements on October 28.

Do you subscribe to Apple Creator Studio? If not, what’s it missing for you? Let us know in the comments.

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