en.Wedoany.com Report on Mar 23rd, Last summer, U.S. tech giant Apple discussed acquiring Lux Optics, the company behind the popular iOS camera app Halide. This potential acquisition aimed to enhance the capabilities of the iPhone's built-in camera, described internally by Apple as "a current mission-driven priority for the company."
Since its launch in 2017, the Halide app has provided iOS device users with more advanced manual photography controls. Its signature feature, "Project Zero," allows users to bypass some automatic image processing for more natural highlight and shadow recovery. The current version of the app, Halide Mark II, operates on a subscription model priced at $19.99 per year or $2.99 per month.
Although Apple has not finalized the acquisition of Lux Optics, it successfully hired the company's co-founder and designer, Sebastiaan de With, who joined Apple's design team in January 2026. This hiring move has led to subsequent legal entanglements.
The other co-founder of Lux Optics, Ben Sandofsky, recently filed a lawsuit, first reported by The Information. The lawsuit alleges that de With took confidential information, including source code, when he joined Apple and was sued in December last year for using approximately $150,000 in company funds for personal expenses since 2022. De With has denied these allegations.
Apple is named as a co-defendant in this case, facing only personal litigation threats. According to The Information, Apple hoped to improve its camera app through the acquisition of Lux Optics and planned to make the future iPhone 18 Pro "rival professional-grade cameras in certain advanced features."
The iPhone 18 Pro is expected to bring significant upgrades to the camera system. In February this year, Apple product leaker Jon Prosser revealed that Apple might move the Dynamic Island design to the top-left corner of the screen and adopt a punch-hole front camera and under-display Face ID sensors, replacing the current pill-shaped form. These changes could further enhance the device's photography experience.
