Apple Creator Studio: Final Cut with a new subscription, Pixelmator Pro comes to iPad
If you’re not interested in subscribing to the new Apple Creator Studio bundle announced today, you’ll be missing out on some new features starting now. Apple announced that some “exciting new smart features and premium content” are coming to the bundle. Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Numbers, Pages and Freeform will only be available with a Creator Studio subscription.
A subscription costs €12.99/$12.99 per month or €129/$129 per year, while students pay €2.99/$29 per month or €29/$29 per year. This means that if you purchased Final Cut Pro or Pixelmator Pro as a one-time purchase (which will still be possible), you will no longer have access to all new features. However, Apple assures users that the apps will continue to receive updates.
The Apple website states the following about Final Cut Pro:
“A one-time purchase is still possible, but access to some premium content is reserved for Apple Creator Studio subscribers. If you already own Final Cut Pro, it will continue to be updated.”
However, there are some exceptions, as Apple states that Logic Pro and MainStage will have all the same features regardless of whether they are subscription or one-time purchase versions.
It appears that most, if not all, of the new features reserved for Creator Studio subscribers will be AI-powered, as Apple has repeatedly referred to them as “smart” features. The apps will continue to receive new features over time that don’t require a subscription, so one-time buyers won’t miss out entirely.
Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform remain free, however, some new smart features and content now require a Creator Studio subscription. This essentially makes these apps “freemium.”
Here are some of the first new features available to Creator Studio subscribers:
- Pixelmator Pro: The new Warp tool lets you distort and shape image layers.
- Keynote, Pages and Numbers: A new Content Hub offers access to high-quality photos and graphics, and there are new premium templates and designs.
In summary, existing Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator Pro users haven’t had to worry about additional costs for new features so far. However, this will change in the future. While the Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform apps will remain free, some new features will only be available via subscription. These changes will undoubtedly disappoint some Apple customers, but will also increase the company’s service revenue.
Pixelmator Pro is coming to iPad with Apple Pencil support and more
Apple also announced today that Pixelmator Pro comes to the iPad, complete with a new, touch-optimized workspace, full Apple Pencil support, and the ability to switch between iPad, MacBook and Mac to work, and all the powerful editing tools of the Mac version.
Pixelmator Pro is a popular photo editing app that was acquired by Apple last year. It’s available for iPad and iPhone already as a simpler version, and now the full-fledged Pro version is also coming to the iPad.
Apple states that the Pro version for iPad will be compatible with iPad models equipped with the A16, A17 Pro or M1 chip or newer chips, and running iPadOS 26 or later.
Here are some of the features of Pixelmator Pro for iPad that Apple has highlighted:
- A fully featured layers sidebar allows creatives to use images, shapes, text, and videos.
- Intelligent selection tools for isolating and editing specific image areas
- Extended bitmap and vector masks
- Super resolution for intelligent upscaling of photos
- Debanding to remove compression artifacts
- Automatic cropping with automatic composition suggestions
- Apple Pencil support for pressure-sensitive brushing, as well as hover, press, and double-tap gestures.
As mentioned, Pixelmator Pro for iPad and Mac is also included in the new Apple Creator Studio subscription. A one-time purchase option for $49.99 remains available and is expected to apply to the iPad app as well. However, some new AI features and content for iPad are only available with an Apple Creator Studio subscription.
The non-pro Pixelmator app on iOS is no longer receiving updates
Alongside the news that the Pro version is coming to iPad, Apple has confirmed that the simpler Pixelmator app will no longer be updated for iPhone and iPad.
From the Pixelmator Pro page on Apple’s website:
“Pixelmator Classic for iOS, released in 2014 as a companion app to the now-discontinued Mac version of Pixelmator Classic, offers basic image editing functions such as cropping, color adjustments, and effects. The app is still functional but is no longer being updated.”
The classic app offers more basic image editing tools, while Pixelmator Pro for iPad will be a fully featured, professional image editing app.
The App Store also offers the free photo editing app Photomator for iPhone and iPad, and Apple has not mentioned that updates for this app will be discontinued.
