- Apple just introduced its premium subscription to Creator Studio
- Paid membership locks certain app features behind a paywall
- Apple’s new app icons also cause consternation among users
Apple yesterday introduced its Creator Studio app subscription service, giving you a suite of creative apps for a monthly or annual fee. But if you don’t feel like spending $12.99 / £12.99 / AU$19.99 a month or $129 / £129 / AU$199 a year and would prefer to pay a one-off fee, there’s an unintended problem: you’ll miss out on some features that are only available to subscribers.
As spotted by MacRumors, the Creator Studio press release explains that some “exciting new smart features and premium content” will be exclusive to Creator Studio subscribers, meaning you won’t get these add-ons if you opt to pay once and keep the software forever. The affected applications are Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Numbers, Pages and Freeform.
For example, the Final Cut Pro page notes that “A one-time purchase will still be available, but access to some premium content is only available to Apple Creator Studio subscribers.”
That said, Apple says one-time purchase apps will continue to be updated, just like their subscription counterparts. On top of that, some apps, including Logic Pro and Mainstage, will have feature parity between subscription and non-subscription editions.
What are these mysterious extra features that a paid membership gives you? We’ve detailed some of the new updates above, but it seems like many of them are related to artificial intelligence (AI). This is hinted at by the fact that Apple describes them as “smart features” and the company often uses similar language when talking about its artificial intelligence tools.
Not all apps require a one-time payment or subscription, as Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform will still have free tiers. But as with the aforementioned examples, paid Creator Studio members will get access to additional features that free users will miss out on.
There is more bad news
Apple’s dual system for creative apps is just one aspect of the new announcement that could be cause for concern. A quick look at social media reveals that many users are unhappy with the new icons Apple has designed for its apps, and many people regret the direction Apple decided to take.
If you haven’t seen the new icons yet, Reddit user Jacksworld101 made a helpful comparison showing the icon groups side by side. Right now, Apple icons are colorful and descriptive. However, when Creator Studio launches on January 28, the icons for each included app will change to a much darker, more minimalist aesthetic, making it much harder to tell them apart from each other at a glance.
On X, users have described the new icons as “awful,” “blurry,” “anti-Apple,” and “really bad.” This is due to the poor reception of the icons received in iOS 26 and macOS 26, where Apple’s clear option gave all icons the same glassy look, hampering users’ ability to distinguish between icons that looked extremely similar.
For some, Creator Studio could be a good way to save money on large down payments when purchasing a suite of apps. But many users will probably be disappointed to see exclusive features locked behind a paywall in a variety of Apple’s most popular apps. The seemingly unpopular icon designs are the icing on the cake.
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