(Credit: Tharon Green/PCMag/Apple)
With its new Creator Studio bundle, Apple collects Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, the iWork apps, and more into a single subscription. The move clearly signals Apple's intent to challenge Adobe's industry-standard Creative Cloud—and I've already compared the two head-to-head.
The bundle itself is a big deal, but Apple also used the launch to introduce new features across many of the included apps. Surprisingly (and refreshingly), most of the best additions aren't locked behind the subscription. They're available to Creator Studio subscribers and to people who already own the standalone versions. And that's exactly how it should be.
The Best Updates Aren't Locked Behind the Subscription
After testing them out, I'm most excited about the new capabilities that Apple isn't locking behind a Creator Studio subscription. These include the following:
Beat Detection, Transcript, and Visual Search in Final Cut for Mac
Two of the coolest new AI-powered features in Final Cut Pro for the Mac make it easier to find project assets. I like the Visual Search tool the most; simply type in search terms, including actions, objects, and names, and the app finds the relevant spots in your timeline. The Transcript search feature finds the specific points during dialogues you search for, whether you have a caption track or not.
Finally, the Beat Detection capability shows a line indicating where each beat of your background music falls in your timeline, so you can align visuals with the rhythm. This new feature is available to existing Final Cut users who upgrade to the latest version, as well as to Creator Studio subscribers.
Montage Maker in Final Cut for iPad
Montage Maker is an iPad-only tool that uses AI to select your best video footage and put together a quick, social-media-worthy project. It can match the result to a music track and convert horizontal videos to a vertical orientation for mobile viewing via a handy auto-crop feature. You can also add a music soundtrack manually, adjust the video speed, and rearrange the clip order. When you're done with the Montage Maker tool, you can open your project in the full video editor.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)Pixelmator Pro for the iPad
Apple now offers a touch-first version of Pixelmator Pro for iPad. The standout capability on this platform is support for the Apple Pencil's double-tap, hover, and squeeze gestures. The iPad app is fully compatible with the Mac version, letting you work seamlessly between platforms via iCloud syncing.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)Chord ID in Logic Pro
Logic Pro, Apple's digital audio workstation, can now analyze and identify chord progressions in your audio or MIDI tracks using AI. You can then apply the chord progressions to the main chord track and then base AI Session Players on these. The Session Players attempt to improvise around the applied chord progression.
Also new is a Synth Session Player for adding synthesizer tracks, and, on the iPad version, the ability to search for sounds in the large Loop Library using natural language prompts.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)Creator Studio Exclusives Don't Sell the Subscription
Some features are available only for Creator Studio subscribers, but they feel a bit underwhelming to me. Nonetheless, you might find great use for the capabilities below:
AI Tools and Stock Content in iWork
Keynote now lets you generate slideshow decks using AI. When I tried this, the app asked permission to access OpenAI technology. Keynote can also generate presenter notes from existing slides. The new Keynote AI features are the only ones from this wider release that Apple designates as still in beta.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)Meanwhile, Magic Fill in the Numbers app can intelligently suggest missing information in your spreadsheet and show you the formula it used. All the iWork apps get access to a Content Hub of backgrounds, graphics, illustrations, and stock photography. OpenAI-based and local AI image generation is available, too.
Warp Tool in Pixelmator Pro
Apple's recently acquired image editing app, Pixelmator Pro, is getting closer to becoming a real competitor to Illustrator and Photoshop. Its new Warp tool, as its name suggests, lets you reshape, tilt, or twist the contents of a layer. The app includes presets like arc, bulge, cylinder, fish-eye, and squeeze. Apple also supplies a collection of Warp-powered apparel and product mock-ups for designers to build from. The Make Editable button adds control points that let you customize the level of distortion.
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)Adobe Photoshop has had a Warp tool since 2019, but it’s nevertheless good to see Apple moving toward feature parity. And I like that Apple is refocusing on the photo software space in general. Incidentally, Creator Studio subscribers also get a new Liquid Glass interface for Pixelmator Pro.
Creator Studio Sets the Right Precedent
Software companies shouldn't force you into an expensive ongoing subscription. For now, Creator Studio is simply a straightforward, good-value bundle. It makes sense if you regularly use—or want to use—several of Apple's creative apps. But if you're perfectly happy buying one or two of them outright, a company shouldn't penalize you by stripping away features or eliminating the standalone option.
I give Apple credit for mostly resisting subscription pressure so far, even if a handful of Creator Studio exclusives may already be tempting, depending on your workflow. Going forward, I'd rather see Apple expand the bundle—by adding apps like Photomator, its Lightroom rival, or including iCloud storage—than do anything that leaves standalone app owners behind.