Professional users, what would it take for you to accept an 'Apple Pro' subscription bundle?

[Ctrlos]

Apple's recent purchase of Pixelmator opens the doors to a lot of conversations. Whilst I've seen one really cool theory of them baking it directly into MacOS, I think it more likely Apple might add it to their professional software suite. Within this is the prospect of them rebranding Photomator as the new Aperture.

At the same time Apple are not fans of offering software for a one-off purchase. Both Logic and Final Cut on iPad are sub-only; it is likely the Mac versions will follow suit.

And as Apple like yours and my money more than anything else we will likely see a bundle. Thus an 'Apple Pro' subscription offering that packs together Final Cut, Logic and Aperture (nee Photomator) into one monthly payment.

My question then is what would it take for you to pay for such a bundle when you're used to one-off licence costs?

Lets assume Apple charge $10 a month per app with a 'cross-buy' unlocking both the Mac and iPad versions. We might then get a discounted bundle for $30 which puts all three (six) apps together with additional iCloud+ storage as a bonus. They might also offer things like Final Cut camera as bundle-only together with iPhone extensions of Pixelmator and Logic.

I don't foresee Apple 'doing a Google' and offering more advanced AI features for Pro customers but you never know.

 

[sracer]

Q. What would it take for you to accept an 'Apple Pro' subscription bundle?
A. Nothing. I will never pay for a software subscription service. I refuse to allow my content to be held hostage by proprietary formats and have to pay a monthly or annual ransom to continue to have access.

 

[maxoakland]

I would never accept that.

 

[RecentlyConverted]

No subscription for me. Happy to buy the software I want, expect it to be maintained so it keeps working. I appreciate developers like all of us have to eat, so happy to buy new feature updates, and not expect them for free. This works both ways, users don't have to keep paying for the same product, imaginative developers earn more money.

 

[Pakaku]

I bought Pixelmator because it was a one-time purchase in the first place...

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Zero interest in software subscriptions.

And it's sad that fellow consumers are imagining ways for sellers- including the favorite- to extract even more money from fellow consumers. Let sellers innovate their own ideas to make more & more & more. The buyers job in this game is to get the most they can for their money... which is towards impossible if anything & everything becomes one more "forever rent" payment. The favorite doesn't need our help to make even more money. They are doing spectacularly great as "richest in the world" on any given day.

Should these apps go subscription, I find other apps that lack such a model. How I got to Pixelmator is Adobe adopting the subscription model. There's other fish in this sea readily available if Pixelmator does the same.

Note: none of the above is anti-developer. Good developers can roll out new, attractive versions to SELL (not rent) to get new revenue every few years. Or develop other apps to sell for new revenue. Each time some great app goes subscription is an opportunity for developers to develop a new variation of that app with many of the same features to sell as a one-off transaction. That's what Pixelmator did and it worked so well that Apple ultimately bought them. Others can do the same.

 

[AlumaMac]

Q. What would it take for you to accept an 'Apple Pro' subscription bundle?
A. Nothing. I will never pay for a software subscription service. I refuse to allow my content to be held hostage by proprietary formats and have to pay a monthly or annual ransom to continue to have access.

This right here!

 

[jlc1978]

Note: none of the above is anti-developer. Good developers can roll out new, attractive versions to SELL (not rent) to get new revenue every few years.

By timing when they rollout new features, they can create a defect subscription model, with users who do not need the new features opting not to upgrade. In addition, every few years that can rollout a new version for the latest version of MacOS to keep a revenue stream going.

I suspect it is hard for a developer to justify developing new versions once sales plateau or drop off; so they need some way to get their existing base to upgrade periodically. Many ones I use have free upgrades for point releases but charge for major ones; a move I find reasonable in most cases. For some, such as Parallels, who release a new version every year as a way to make the one time purchase more subscription like, I simply use the old version for 3 or 4 years until I consider upgrading.

 

[familychoice]

I hate subscriptions, never had one....then Logic turned up for the iPad.

It's really, really good, and I used it intensively for 6 months. Then for various reasons (work, other stuff going on) I realised I hadn't opened it for three months, and yet another £15 had been sucked from my meagre savings pile. Still busy, another fiver was about to be hoovered up for something I wasn't going to use that month so I cancelled.

6 months later I haven't returned. Despite being a great app, I just can't cope with the continual drain from my bank account for something I might, or might not be using that month.

Last week I bought Cubasis for a one-off price of £24.99. That'll do.

 

[chrfr]

And as Apple like yours and my money more than anything else we will likely see a bundle. Thus an 'Apple Pro' subscription offering that packs together Final Cut, Logic and Aperture (nee Photomator) into one monthly payment.

It seems unlikely that a single user would need all these apps given that they all do different things. With the recent release of Final Cut Pro 11 remaining not only non-subscription but also a free upgrade for existing users, Apple seems pretty committed to staying out of subscriptions for the current apps. This seems like an idea that'll go nowhere.

 

[thepyrate]

A subscription would likely push remaining Final Cut users (like me) into Da Vinci Resolve full time. I was ready and willing to pay again when Final Cut 11 came out. I don't care however much you can argue that "its three years worth of monthly payments" I am growing ever more tired of every company taking a few more dollars out of my monthly income as we increasingly feel the squeeze of both the economic situation as well as the tightening film and television industry. I use Pixelmator and Final Cut so as to avoid monthly subscriptions. I'll jump to Resolve and Affinity if I have to.

 

[buggz]

PLEASE *STOP* trying to legitimize subscription model crap.
No one want this, nor needs this.

 

[jlc1978]

PLEASE *STOP* trying to legitimize subscription model crap.
No one want this, nor needs this.

Depends on the model. Setapp offers me a lot of programs I use at a fraction of what it would cost me after initial purchase and subsequent frequent updates or individual subscriptions.