Apple takes on Adobe Creative Cloud with their Creator Studio subscription bundle

Apple has introduced Apple Creator Studio, a long-awaited subscription bundle that brings together its creative apps across Mac, iPad, and iPhone and positions itself as a serious alternative to Adobe's Creative Cloud.

The Creator Studio is available for Mac, iPad and iPhone and features nine well-known Apple apps, including Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, Motion, Compressor and MainStage. Additionally, a tenth app, Freeform, will be added later.

For photographers, Pixelmator Pro (available now for $79.99 as a one off purchase) is the one to watch. The app offers image adjustments, layered editing, smart selection tools, and Apple silicon-powered features such as Super Resolution and Auto Crop. Projects can be shared between Mac and iPad (where you can use pen / brushes) for a flexible workflow.

Overall, Pixelmator Pro is a blend of Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator with a hint of Premier, though it doesn't have a substantial organisational / catalog system like Lightroom. 

However, there is the 'Lightroom-like' Mac software from the same company called Photomator – which is also (at the time of writing) available as a subscription (AU$50 per year) or lifetime purchase (AU$199). 

As Apple acquired the Pixelmator team and suite of apps officially in February 2025, it seems possible that Photomator may be added to the Creator Studio bundle in the near future.

In the meantime, Final Cut Pro for Mac and iPad will receive a range of updates aimed at making everyday editing easier.

The highlight of the update is a new Transcript Search, which lets editors find spoken dialogue by typing text, while Visual Search helps locate clips based on objects or actions in the footage.

Additional intelligent features are designed to speed up common tasks, and on iPad a new Montage Maker can automatically create a starting edit by analysing footage and selecting key moments.

Apple Creator Studio also adds new capabilities to Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform. A new Content Hub provides access to curated images, graphics, and templates, while intelligent tools help with tasks such as image creation, layout suggestions, and presentation setup.

Fortunately for those not keen to commit to (another) subscription, one-time purchase options for the Mac versions of all the creative apps will remain available, for now at least.

Apple Creator Studio will be available from January 28, priced at $19.99 per month, or $199 a year, with a one-month free trial.

This competitive pricing is considerably cheaper than Adobe's full Creative Cloud Pro subscription, which starts at $56.73 a month (discount for first 3 months) for individuals (normally $1,247.93/yr). And it is still cheaper than Adobe's popular Photography suite (Lightroom + Photoshop) that is $30.99/mo or $371.84/yr – albeit with 1TB of cloud storage.

As for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform software, they will continue to be available for all users and will keep receiving updates alongside the new subscription.

You can find out more about the new package here. Or watch a YouTube review on Pixelmator Pro by Grayson's Graphics below.