Apple acquired another company that could help build out its Creator Studio subscription

Apple has acquired the company behind a color grading tool that could be incorporated into a future version of Apple Creator Studio. Per an acquisition disclosure provided by the European Union, Apple acquired Patchflyer GmbH in January, the developer of a web-based color grading tool called Color.io. Color grading tools have been a part of Creator Studio thanks to Final Cut Pro since the bundle launched in January, but the acquisition will presumably lead to even more professional-focused features being added in the future.

The hire Apple is making alongside this acquisition also appears to be Jonathan Ochmann, the creator of Color.io, who announced he was shutting down the tool in 2025 to join a company that would allow him to work "at a scale I could never reach on my own."

Whether Apple makes a bespoke color management tool with Ochmann's help or rolls those features into Creator Studio's existing apps, the company seems interested in bulking up its position as an Adobe competitor. Prior to this acquisition, Apple acquired MotionVFX in March, a well-liked provider of visual effects templates and plug-ins. Creator Studio lacks the same industry buy-in as Adobe Creative Cloud, but offering a slightly more affordable and user-friendly option could someday get people to switch — or never sign-up for Adobe's subscription in the first place.

Expanding Creator Studio also plays into the company's growing focus on services. Apple started offering more subscriptions under CEO Tim Cook to supplement slowing iPhone sales and a regulatory environment that was less friendly to the company's App Store model. That apparently won't change once John Ternus takes over in the fall. The incoming CEO is reportedly gung-ho on "continuing to expand" the company's services business, and improving Creator Studio could just be one of the first places that work will happen.