The list of Apple subscription services keeps growing. iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, MLS Season Pass, Apple One … The company of course also takes a cut of subscriptions sold through the App Store, Apple Books, and Apple Podcasts. Then there are the hardware-related subscriptions, AppleCare+ and the iPhone Upgrade Program.
Most recently, we’ve had the launch of Apple Creator Studio, and a new report says that we can expect to see even more subscriptions to come …
The upside of more Apple subscriptions
I’m on record as saying that I think Apple Creator Studio is a very good deal for many.
Apple Creator Studio bundle is likely a very good deal for many creative professionals. It’s not a like-for-like comparison, and which of the two packages will suit you better depends on your needs, but just as an illustration a standard Adobe Creative Cloud Pro subscription will cost you almost $800 a year if you commit to annual billing. You can more than double this if you need to buy additional credits for generative AI features.
Apple Creator Studio, in contrast, is $129 a year or $13 a month, and appears to offer all the AI you can eat.
Competition is generally good for consumers, so I’m happy to see Apple providing competition for dominant players like Adobe, Spotify, Netflix, and so on. Additionally, combined subscription bundles like Apple One and Apple Creator Studio can offer particularly good value.
In our poll, a majority of you were happy about the launch of the latter so long as we retain the choice between renting and buying the apps. However, it was notable that more than a third of you were unhappy about the development, even with this choice.
Two downsides to Apple subscriptions
I think there are two big reasons for the sizable number of you who weren’t happy with the ACS launch.
Subscription fatigue
There’s been a huge shift in the app world from one-off purchases (with perhaps the option of paying again for a major upgrade some years down the line) to a monthly or annual subscription fee. While many of the individual subscriptions seem inexpensive, starting from $3-$5 a month, they can very quickly add up.
Even two years ago, a study revealed that the average American was spending around $1,000 a year on streaming video services alone. Given all of the price rises we’ve seen since then, it’s a certainty that the number will be significantly higher today.
No matter how good a deal ACS might be, it is yet another never-ending monthly expense. Something else we will never own and never pay off.
Perhaps it’ll be time to stop using Apple services for me, I actively avoid subscriptions from every company, I’d rather pay once and cry once than submit myself into a predatory renting scheme.
Add in other apps, AppleCare+, cloud services, and more, and we are very rapidly heading for a world in which we will be paying literally thousands of dollars a year for all our subscription services.
Distrust of tech companies, including Apple
The second reason, I think, is distrust of promises made by tech companies – and Apple doesn’t get a pass on this. While the ACS subscription is very good value today, many expect the cost to rise significantly over time.
Apple TV started out at $4.99. It’s now $12.99. It is pure folly to think this won’t happen here.
Granted, Apple TV has a lot more content than it did at launch, but the point is still well made.
People also note that just because we can still buy the individual apps as one-off purchases now doesn’t mean that we will be able to do so forevermore. There is a very real possibility that at some point Apple will follow Adobe down the path of making its creative professional apps subscription only.
This is a huge reputational risk for Apple
We shouldn’t underestimate the reputational hit a company can take when it switches to a subscription model.
I’m old enough to remember when Adobe was a much-loved company in the creative pro world, very much on a par with Apple. Its switch to a subscription-only model was massively unpopular, however, and it now has an average Trustpilot review rating of just 1.1 out of 5.
Most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. Consumers express widespread dissatisfaction with the company’s subscription model, highlighting concerns about pricing, payment processes, and cancellation procedures. People feel that the subscription costs are too high and that the company engages in deceptive billing practices. The cancellation process is difficult, and consumers are often surprised by unexpected fees.
Apple is potentially at even greater risk here as the company already charges premium prices for hardware. If customers pay top dollar for hardware and then get the feeling the company is nickel-and-diming them for subscription fees, its reputation could be very rapidly tarnished.
This is a tightrope act for the company
Yes, the launch of Apple Creator Studio is good news. If Apple can keep the bundle affordable, and launch future subscription services which are also perceived to be good value, then it can enhance rather than damage its reputation.
But this could very easily go horribly wrong. If at some point it removes the option to own rather than rent software, that will cause significant resentment. If it ends up going down the Adobe route of trying to aggressively protect subscription revenue from cancellations, Apple’s reputation could nosedive in exactly the same way. And before you say Apple would never do this, the company is not exactly noted for its flexibility even today.
What’s your view here? Do you share my concern that Apple will need to tread very carefully, or do you think that it would never take the same path as Adobe? Please take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.
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