Apple surprised us all on Tuesday with an all new subscription offering for creative professionals, with the launch of Apple Creator Studio. In all honesty, it seems like a great value. After reading through all of the details though, I can already think of some easy improvements Apple could make.
Photomator inclusion
This week’s Apple Creator Studio announcement gave us our first glimpse at Apple’s strategy with its Pixelmator acquisition that it announced in 2024. We got a new app in the form of Pixelmator Pro for iPad, as well as a couple new features for the Mac version of Pixelmator Pro. Apple also announced that it would be discontinuing Pixelmator Classic for iOS.
However, there was one major app from Pixelmator that received no news this week: Photomator.
Given the fact that Lightroom is one of the more notable app in Adobe Creative Cloud, it seems like a revamped version of Photomator would make perfect sense for Apple’s new rival subscription bundle.
If I were to guess, I’d say Apple is working on this anyways, but it just wasn’t ready for today’s announcement. Maybe we’ll hear more by WWDC.
Discount for current owners
Apple Creator Studio comes with feature enhancements for the Mac versions of Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, as well as Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. Granted, they’re rather minor enhancements at the moment – but you can only get these newer features if you’re a subscriber.
If you already bought Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, or any of the other pro apps, and you’d like to gain any of these new features, you’re sort of out of luck.
Whether that be an extended free trial period or a subscription discount for people who already own the apps, I feel like it’d make sense for Apple to provide some benefit to people who already own the apps.
Currently, there isn’t much incentive for existing users to want to subscribe – and they’re likely leaving potential subscription revenue on the table by not incentivizing current paid users.
iCloud bundles
Top comment by OrangeWheel
This Creative Suite should be offered to all subscribers of a 2TB iCloud plan: it would make sense given the storage space. Imposing an additional subscription for this unnecessary software suite isn't very good business practice... Furthermore, what's happening to Photomator? No, things aren't looking good at Apple right now. The success of the iPhone 17 masks serious software flaws, starting with iOS 26 and Liquid Glass, for example...
Lastly, I think it’d be cool if Apple had tiers that include iCloud storage. If you’re a creative and don’t have a lot of local storage, you might want to use iCloud to store some of your larger files. Most Adobe Creative Cloud plans include a decent amount of cloud storage.
I’m just spitballing here, but I think a $20/month Apple Creator Studio bundle with 2TB of iCloud storage would be a hit, and it’d potentially encourage people who don’t currently pay for large amounts of iCloud storage to give it a shot.
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- Anker Ultra-Slim MagSafe Battery Pack
- AirPods Pro 3 (2x ANC vs AirPods Pro 2!)
- Anker Nano 45W Fast Charger with Smart Display
- Anker Prime 3-in-1 25W Compact MagSafe Charger
- Logitech MX Master 4 Mouse for Mac
- AirTag 2 4-pack (50% improved Precision Finding!)
- Belkin MagSafe 3-in-1 Charging Stand for iPhone
- MOFT MagSafe Kickstand Wallet for iPhone
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