Pro & Contra: Has Apple destroyed iWork?
Apple's office suite was long the carefree basic equipment on Macs & Co. Now the apps are freemium instead of simply free. Is this going too far?
For years, Apple has offered its iWork suite – Pages, Keynote, and Numbers – to its customers for free. With the launch of “Apple Creator Studio,” the text editing, spreadsheet, and presentation software have now become freemium apps. New features and additional elements are only available for paying users. Furthermore, the apps prominently point to the subscription package. Is Apple torpedoing its own office software?
PRO
Leo Becker is annoyed that Apple doesn't shy away from annoying subscription ads in Pages & Co.
Pages, Keynote, and Numbers are actually very good applications. However, with the introduction of the Creator Studio subscription bundle, Apple has degraded them overnight into “nagware” – software that remains free on paper but tries to sell users a subscription at every opportunity.
It's a shame: For many years, the free iWork add-on enhanced every Apple device without any catches. Many new customers were likely pleased that they could simply open an office file sent to them without having to buy and install software first. The persistent upselling shatters the previously so positive first impression: The apps conspicuously point to supposed premium content and don't shy away from eye-catching buttons for AI functions that are only unlocked by the subscription. It remains unclear whether there will be any free innovations for the iWork suite in the future.
The Pro & Contra section comes from Mac & i issue 2/2026, available from March 27, 2026. The new issue can be ordered from the heise shop starting Thursday – as a print magazine or as a PDF.
Moreover, Apple hasn't even bothered to put together an attractive additional offer for iWork users. For a few average stock photos and templates, plus heavily limited AI functions, the company charges 13 euros per month. That's a good subscription price for the professional tools Final Cut and Logic Pro included in Creator Studio, but completely absurd for anyone who simply wants to continue using Pages, Keynote, and Numbers undisturbed.
Apple likes to promote that it wants to offer customers the “best possible computing experience.” When it comes to software, the manufacturer is increasingly abandoning this noble goal. And all for a little more revenue from subscription services. (lbe)
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CONTRA
Holger Zelder finds it all not so bad.
Duplicate apps! Ugly! Subscription trap! Many users were irritated when two versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote suddenly appeared on their Macs. However, the chaos has practical, technical reasons: With the new versions, Apple has introduced Universal apps that work across multiple platforms. This means Apple will only have to maintain one version for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS in the future.
I consider the accusation of “destroying Apple's office programs” to be an exaggeration. Yes, if you don't subscribe to Creator Studio, you'll see a bit of advertising. But I'm used to worse, like annoying pop-up windows or daily email terror. Compared to the competition, Apple's notices are discreet, so I can easily ignore them. Purple buttons for the image generator, resolution enhancer, or curated media library, which only subscribers can use, can be easily removed from the toolbar. Old templates still work. And anyone who always works with the same documents anyway will use them and ignore those with the subscription asterisk.
At least the user only has to decide whether to spend money on a few templates and a bit more AI functionality. Those who don't need the AI stuff don't have to pay for it and currently miss nothing. Even if Apple expands the subscription features in the future, Numbers, Pages, and Keynote cover the basic office needs for most private users. Furthermore, even with a free iCloud account, documents can be edited in the browser or shared with others.
The competition is different: If you just want to save a document in Word, you're forced into a Microsoft 365 subscription. Apple's apps, on the other hand, remain usable even without the Apple subscription – and have been since 2017! (hze)
Who is right? Join the discussion!
Last time on Pro & Contra: Should iOS be as open as the Mac?
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(lbe)
