Why does Apple's iPad Pro website feature Office and not iWork?

[Rogifan]

http://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/experience/

The first thing you see when you go to the "experience" section of Apple's iPad Pro website is Microsoft Office. iWork is no where to be found. Perhaps Apple is doing this to try and lure away Windows PC users (hey you can use Office on an iPad!) but not featuring iWork at all signals to me that it's basically a dying product inside Apple. iWork wasn't featured on stage last September either, Office was.

Also I noticed all the photos on this site are of the 9.7" iPad as if the 12.9" didn't even exist. Which makes me wonder if the larger iPad will be neglected in favor of the smaller one. Even though it's not brand new to have entire "experience" page not feature one situation where someone is using the larger iPad is concerning.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

All I can remember is that when the Pro was released Office supported Split View and iWork wasn't ready yet. And Apple wants to stay in MS's good book.

 

[RedOrchestra]

the 9.7" iPad IS Apple's flagship model - not surprised at all, that the new 9.7" iPad Pro is getting all the attention on the experience page. The 12.9" model is very much a niche tablet and truly unwieldy for a majority of users.

 

[ctg7w6]

Because it is the iPad PRO and they want to advertise that it can use PRO software... Basically nobody in the real world use iWork, they all use Office.

 

[TheRealAlex]

the 9.7" iPad IS Apple's flagship model - not surprised at all, that the new 9.7" iPad Pro is getting all the attention on the experience page. The 12.9" model is very much a niche tablet and truly unwieldy for a majority of users.

Very true and Microsoft Office is fully free on the 9.7 Pro a major feature. And MS Office is used by a vast majority of real world everyday professionals or Pros. Pro tablet Pro software.

 

[spiderman0616]

I really think iWork is heading toward extinction. Apple is letting MS take the lead on office software because they do it better. It's a win win.

 

[frogger2020]

I really think iWork is heading toward extinction. Apple is letting MS take the lead on office software because they do it better. It's a win win.

Exactly, I don't know of anyone who uses iWork for business. Heck, since Office is free on an iPad/iPhone, there is no reason to use iWork.

 

[ahostmadsen]

Exactly, I don't know of anyone who uses iWork for business. Heck, since Office is free on an iPad/iPhone, there is no reason to use iWork.

And, amazingly, MS has made a better iPad implementation than Apple with their iWork.

I think the main reason Apple has iWork is to pressure MS to make a decent office suite for Apple products, and to have a backup if they don't. Now they made a great version for iPad, so no reason for Apple to promote iWork.

 

[Rogifan]

the 9.7" iPad IS Apple's flagship model - not surprised at all, that the new 9.7" iPad Pro is getting all the attention on the experience page. The 12.9" model is very much a niche tablet and truly unwieldy for a majority of users.

Speak for yourself. I own the 12.9" and would never go back to anything smaller. Personally I think Split View is a joke on the 9.7". As long as all of Apple's marketing shots only show off the 9.7" device the 12.9" will certainly continue to be niche. Sigh.

Very true and Microsoft Office is fully free on the 9.7 Pro a major feature. And MS Office is used by a vast majority of real world everyday professionals or Pros. Pro tablet Pro software.

Well then Apple is just reaffirming that they're a hardware company, not a software and services company. Tim and Luca can say whatever they want on earnings calls because they think Apple is unfairly being valued as a hardware company but let's face it that's what Apple mostly is. Someone needs to clue Tim and Phil in that Apple can have a vibrant App Store and high quality first party apps at the same time.

I really think iWork is heading toward extinction. Apple is letting MS take the lead on office software because they do it better. It's a win win.

Sadly I think you're right. Tech analyst Ben Bajarin tweeted the other day that he's migrating all his workflows from iWork to Office because he feels iWork is a dying product. Sad.

 

[Osty]

Basically nobody in the real world use iWork, they all use Office

We don't all use MS Office, even in the corporate world.

Apple is letting MS take the lead on office software because they do it better

And yet, iWork performs much better on my iPad (admittedly an older model) than Office does.
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The first thing you see when you go to the "experience" section of Apple's iPad Pro website is Microsoft Office

I imagine Microsoft is paying quite a bit for the privilege too. Apple doesn't need Microsoft to sell devices, though having office available makes it appealing to many. Microsoft though needs Apple if they want to stay relevant in the mobile space given their own mobile platform is foundering.

 

[sracer]

Well then Apple is just reaffirming that they're a hardware company, not a software and services company. Tim and Luca can say whatever they want on earnings calls because they think Apple is unfairly being valued as a hardware company but let's face it that's what Apple mostly is. Someone needs to clue Tim and Phil in that Apple can have a vibrant App Store and high quality first party apps at the same time.

For the most part, Apple has always been a hardware company. They saw software as a necessary evil. They knew that their hardware marketshare would not be sufficient to entice developers in significant numbers... So they developed the software themselves (either in-house, or by subsidiaries).

One of the great selling points for Apple computers in the past was that when you buy one, it comes with everything you need to do pretty much everything that most people do. Then with the passage of time as marketshare grew, it drew the attention of developers.

Now with sufficient marketshare and software support, it isn't necessary for Apple to continue to produce software. That is extremely sad because I really appreciate the iWork and iLife apps.

Sadly I think you're right. Tech analyst Ben Bajarin tweeted the other day that he's migrating all his workflows from iWork to Office because he feels iWork is a dying product. Sad.

The writing was on the wall was when Apple released the upgrade that was really a downgrade and made it free for new purchasers of their hardware.

I still use iWork 09 and the latest version. I will continue to do so until the old version stops working on OSX. I have an "exit strategy" for that.

 

[ctg7w6]

We don't all use MS Office, even in the corporate world.

I said "basically nobody." By this, I meant "a statistically small amount." We can define exactly what is a statistically small amount, but I really just meant, a low amount relative to those who do use MS Office. I don't know the percentages, but I would also wager that even among those companies or businesses that don't use MS Office, relatively few use an Apple product. I know that Libre Office is fairly popular.
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Well then Apple is just reaffirming that they're a hardware company, not a software and services company. Tim and Luca can say whatever they want on earnings calls because they think Apple is unfairly being valued as a hardware company but let's face it that's what Apple mostly is. Someone needs to clue Tim and Phil in that Apple can have a vibrant App Store and high quality first party apps at the same time.

This I totally agree with. Apple has good operating systems, even if I don't necessarily like the extent of the sandboxing in iOS, but I don't use a single Apple software product or package except calendar. I don't need a sophisticated calendar and it does everything I need. For everything else, I needed a more powerful solution. But hey, they don't need to make a bunch of great first party apps... The App Store has way better stuff than Apple will come up with, and the same has generally been true for any desktop programs... Third party solutions are almost always better than what Apple has come up with, and this is true for Microsoft too. I don't think many people actually say that MS Office is objectively better than other solutions. Many people use it because they basically have to. This includes me. I write everything else in other writing apps and then do final formatting in Word and use a Word format for compatibility.

 

[Osty]

I said "basically nobody." By this, I meant "a statistically small amount." We can define exactly what is a statistically small amount, but I really just meant, a low amount relative to those who do use MS Office. I don't know the percentages, but I would also wager that even among those companies or businesses that don't use MS Office, relatively few use an Apple product. I know that Libre Office is fairly popular.

Yeah, I know, you are right. I work on Linux in the corporate world so I'm pretty much a statistical novelty
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I don't think many people actually say that MS Office is objectively better than other solutions. Many people use it because they basically have to. This includes me. I write everything else in other writing apps and then do final formatting in Word and use a Word format for compatibility.

I agree, few people I've ever met 'love' Word. It's a tool most of us have to use purely for compatibility or corporate policies. Professionally though, I'm lucky to have more control and so I user AsciiDoc. Personally, I use Markdown and just use the whatever native text editor I like best on the platform I happen to be using at the time. For me that's:

* Gedit (Linux)
* Editorial (iPad)
* Draft (Android)
* MultiMarkdown Composer (Mac)

 

[Aluminum213]

Apple finally realized iWork is terrible compared to Office

 

[Osty]

Apple finally realized iWork is terrible compared to Office

It's not terrible; Pages is quite good for smaller, less complex documents. The older versions where even pretty good for lightweight desktop publishing. Numbers is fine for simple stuff too and Keynote is better than Powerpoint. Apple's cardinal sin is gimping the desktop version to conform to the mobile counterparts.

iWork is also free too with no subscription costs to boot. Unless your producing long, complex documents (which, as a professional, technical writer I say Word is equally poor at) and you live purely in Apple's ecosystem, the iWork is a pretty good deal.

Office's only advantage is its ubiquity, bundling and Excel (which I admit is the market-leading spreadsheet). For writing (all forms), desktop publishing, presentation, email, databases etc there are better options out there.

I recently had to install Word on my iPad mini 2 and gave up because I found the performance unbearably slow on the twenty-page document I was editing. I had no such problem with Pages.

As always, it depends on your needs.

 

[capathy21]

Speak for yourself. I own the 12.9" and would never go back to anything smaller. Personally I think Split View is a joke on the 9.7". As long as all of Apple's marketing shots only show off the 9.7" device the 12.9" will certainly continue to be niche. Sigh.

Completely agree. The 9.7 feels like a mini once you've used a 12.9. I never used my 9.7 Air 2 for anything more than consumption due to its size. The 12.9 is an absolute game changer in productivity mainly due to its size. I think the 9.7 is getting all of the recent attention mainly since it's the newest iPad and more importantly, it's cheaper than the 12.9.

I am glad that they have two sizes so that everyone has options, but I do believe that the 12.9 is much closer to a laptop replacement, for me anyway.

 

[Michael Goff]

Apple is trying to make sure people are on software that actually gets updated.

 

[sjleworthy]

in use iwork on the Pro purely because it's a nice fluid experience for me, very compatible when i export, and is much cheapness.

i use MS in work of course, but dont want to fork out the subscription fees if i dont have to, and for me iwork is a nice thing to use.

 

[colodane]

iWork is also free too with no subscription costs to boot.

The Mac app store is showing $20 each for Pages and Numbers. How is this free?

 

[Osty]

The Mac app store is showing $20 each for Pages and Numbers. How is this free?

That's news to me

 

[tgara]

Because it is the iPad PRO and they want to advertise that it can use PRO software... Basically nobody in the real world use iWork, they all use Office.

I guess I wouldn't go so far as to say "real world", but to your point, certainly the vast majority of corporate customers use the Office suite, not iWork.

I have to say, I'm gaining more respect for Microsoft. Under the leadership of Mr. Nadella, their iOS apps have gotten really good in the last 12-18 months, and they are coming out with new features and products. Based on these improvements, I've deleted the Apple iWork apps from my devices. I simply had no need for them in my workflows.

 

[BenTrovato]

I guess I wouldn't go so far as to say "real world", but to your point, certainly the vast majority of corporate customers use the Office suite, not iWork.

I have to say, I'm gaining more respect for Microsoft. Under the leadership of Mr. Nadella, their iOS apps have gotten really good in the last 12-18 months, and they are coming out with new features and products. Based on these improvements, I've deleted the Apple iWork apps from my devices. I simply had no need for them in my workflows.

It's true, if we're talking real world, iWork isn't exactly used by that many people relative to office. I don't mind Nadella but I'm not overjoyed with him. Microsoft has so much potential and they continue to blow it (or at least not excel). The Surface looks like it had 5 different teams trying to put 10 parts into a box designed for 3. The iOS apps have gotten a lot better though, so that's something.

 

[Sheza]

Because it is the iPad PRO and they want to advertise that it can use PRO software... Basically nobody in the real world use iWork, they all use Office.

this is the answer

 

[Night Spring]

The Mac app store is showing $20 each for Pages and Numbers. How is this free?

It's free when you buy a new Mac. iOS version is free when you buy a new iOS device.

 

[Newtons Apple]

The business world runs off of Office.