This is an interesting development where Apple has bundled in a lot of its creative apps behind a subscription model for $129 a year. I don’t particularly use many of these creative apps apart from Pixelmator Pro which I own.
However, the takeaway and possibly concerning aspect of this is they’ve developed premium versions of iWorks apps which are only available to those taking out a subscription. The basic version will remain free.
Not happy about it given I paid for these apps already. I use Pixelmator considerably (would like new features as they come out), “iWork” apps (no interest in AI integrations but would like new features), bought Final Cut and Logic Pro so the switch to subscription is disappointing. Seems like the “money grab” approach Apple is taking more often now (eg, iAds everywhere including maps?!?). Maybe it’s necessary to offset the cost of Google Gemini use.
Given that Alphabet will pay Apple many, many billions more for Google to be the default search app on iOS than Apple will pay Alphabet for its bespoke version of Gemini, the subscription revenue from Apple Creator Studio will get lost in the rounding.
I understand the frustration with Apple’s having built a subscription package out of non-subscription stand-alone apps, but I suspect it’s less a pure money grab than an attempt to compete in the growing creator space, especially now that machine learning puts being a polished creator within the reach of many more people. The upside for potential customers in the Apple ecosystem is that Apple now has an incentive to focus development blood and treasure on making this suite of integrated apps strong competitors against Adobe, Canva, and whoever else might move into the creator space with AI-fueled tools: think Meta at the very least, if not Google itself (AI+Workspace+creator tools for YouTube). Maybe Google will be content for NanoBanana to be the engine powering Apple’s and Adobe’s creative image-making tools; maybe it will try to make a creator suite of its own.
Creator tools are an ecosystem with a potential for lock-in. For instance, I’ll likely continue to subscribe to Adobe’s Lightroom/Photoshop package because my workflow depends Lightroom’s catalogue management tools, a robust marketplace of third-party Lightroom/Photoshop plug-ins (including tools like Nano Banana and Flux, and an equally robust marketplace of Lightroom/Photoshop training materials that goes far beyond basic tool use.