Apple today announced Creator Studio, a subscription that bundles all of its "pro" apps together for a monthly fee for iPad and Mac owners.
Priced at $19.99 per month, Creator Studio includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and the upcoming Pixelmator Pro on iPad. Mac users have access to all of these, as well as Motion, MainStage, and Compressor.
On top of this, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform will have additional features for Creator Studio subscribers, but will continue to be available for free to all iPhone, iPad, and Mac users.
A single Creator Studio subscription gets users access to apps on both iPad and Mac.
Final Cut, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, MainStage, and Compressor will continue to be available as one-off purchases for Mac users, and will continue to be supported for customers who don't subscribe to Creator Studio. Final Cut and Pixelmator Pro will get extra functionality for subscribers, however.
On the iPad front, Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro have only ever been available as subscription products. They are currently each billed at $7.99 per month, with the option to pay for $59.99 per month for a year upfront. These individual subscriptions will be grandfathered after Creator Studio goes live. Creator Studio will be the only way for new customers to get access to Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro on iPad, but customers on an existing subscription will be able to maintain it.
Creator Studio will launch on January 29. Customers who want to pay for a year upfront pay $199, effectively getting two months free. Education pricing will be available at $4.99 per month or $49 per year.
Customers who buy a new iPad or Mac will be eligible for a three-month trial. A one-month free trial will be available for those without a new device.
Update 15/01: Added info about existing Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro subscriptions for iPad users
Alex Choros
