Apple Releases Aperture 1.1

MARKHAM, Ontario—April 13, 2006—Apple® today released Aperture™ 1.1, a significant update to the revolutionary all-in-one post production tool for photographers that runs natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. Aperture 1.1 features dramatically improved RAW image rendering and a new set of advanced RAW adjustment controls. Aperture 1.1 also delivers impressive speed gains on any Mac® including desktop performance on a MacBook™ Pro* with image adjustments and searching up to 4x faster. At a new lower price of $349 (CAN), Apple is putting Aperture within reach of anyone shooting with a digital SLR camera.

“Since Aperture launched just over four months ago, we've been incredibly focused on improving image quality and performance, working closely with pro photographers to get it right in 1.1,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of Applications Marketing. “With the RAW quality and overall speed of Aperture 1.1 and its new low price, there's never been a better time for pros and hobbyists alike to take the art and craft of photography to the next level.”

“I love the fact that you can save RAW adjustments in Aperture 1.1 and use those settings on future jobs,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet who recently used Aperture to capture Olympic images from Torino for The New York Times. “In the past, sending a selection of photos to clients for approval could take hours to import, edit down, resize, tone and deliver. With Aperture, I can do all of this in five minutes. Aperture has become the core application for me.”

“The controls for working with black and white film in Aperture 1.1 are staggering—much more powerful than a wet darkroom,” said John Stanmeyer, co-founding member of the VII Photo Agency and a contract photographer with Time Magazine. “There are times when I'm working with Aperture that I'm about to burst through my skin with excitement at its potential. There's no doubt Aperture will become the key tool for photographers.”

RAW image rendering in Aperture 1.1 is greatly improved in areas such as noise reduction, sharpening, and highlight recovery. New RAW Fine Tuning controls allow photographers to tweak decode settings such as boost, sharpening and chroma blur. A new built-in color meter displays pixel values in RGB, Lab or CMYK in the Adjustments HUD (heads up display) or in Aperture's Loupe magnifying viewer. Enhanced export controls make it easier to output images at specific resolutions and improve the handling of layered Photoshop files. Aperture 1.1 offers support for the Nikon D200 and Canon 30D, as well as dozens of reliability and performance improvements.

Aperture 1.1 delivers significant performance gains on both PowerPC-based and the new Intel-based Macs providing photographers with desktop level experience on the new MacBook Pro and delivering a powerful entry-level photography workstation on the new Intel-based iMac®. Performance tests on a MacBook Pro have shown that common repetitive workflow tasks such as Lift and Stamp and searching are processed up to 4x faster on a MacBook Pro than on a PowerBook® G4.

Pricing & Availability
Aperture 1.1 is available immediately as a free Software Update to current Aperture 1.0 customers. In addition, early adopters of Aperture 1.0 can claim a $250 (CAN) coupon redeemable at the Apple Online Store by visiting www.apple.ca/promo/aperture/ as a thank you for their support. Aperture 1.1 is available to order for new customers for a suggested retail price of $349 (CAN) through the Apple Store® (www.apple.ca/store), Apple's retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers.

Apple Canada Inc. is headquartered in Markham, Ontario and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple Computer, Inc. Apple products are available at more than 450 Authorized Apple Canada Dealer locations across Canada.

Press Contact:
Tara Hendela
Apple Canada
(905) 513-5853
thendela@apple.com