Apple Makes iMovie, GarageBand, and iWork Apps for Mac and iOS Free for All Users

[MacBH928]

The real question is who uses iWorks?

You can get a free basic Office or Google Docs online or you can download free LibreOffice or OpenOffice...
I am all for alternative but serious attempts... iWorks seems to be a "me too" suite...

That being said, I still feel Keynote is the best "slides" app out there but I could be wrong since I didn't use PowerPoint in a loooong time

 

[tubular]

The real question is who uses iWorks?

I do. All the time.

 

[Defender2010]

A

I wouldn't spend time asking for my money back. it's not much money.
I'll wait to see what happens.
I just know that recently Apple acquired a company and refunded all the users who purchased the app they have now made free.

Actually it's very easy. You just click the report a problem button and send a note saying it's free now but you purchased recently. Refunds are usually given the next day in my experience.

 

[thespacekid]

A very strong move against Microsoft Office. I must admit, back when I was still using macOS these programs were a very productive and efficient addition to my workflow.

I tried using Pages and Numbers, but they were not very intuitive so I went back to Microsoft Office. Since Apple has a reputation of not continually improving its apps, I suspect they're still inferior products.

 

[chrfr]

Indeed, very *impolite* to charge its most loyal customers while giving it for free to newcomers.

People who don't buy products new from companies are not the most loyal customers. Apple nearly went out of business 20+ years ago when these loyal customers weren't buying enough computers to sustain the company.

 

[phillytim]

Freeing up Pages/Numbers/Keynote is not very exciting to me, even though it should be. It was back in 2013, but not anymore.

I'm on my 6th year with my 2011 MacBook Pro, and I've been all-in the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, etc.), and I would have had to pay to get the suite on my 2011 MBPro; but I never did find it worthy enough to pay for (especially since I could get MS Office for free, from my work company). I've been happier to use Google Docs for the quick-and-dirty and most versatile stuff (even tho iWork is web-enabled through iCloud).

Now that I *can* have P/N/K for free on my 2011, I'm so close to having to upgrade to a new computer (which may be a Windows laptop, considering Apple's crazy prices for its disposable-appliance-type-hardware) that the apps are practically irrelevant to me - I probably won't even download them now.

But hey, if Apple helps some financially-challenged person(s) out there be more productive, with or without a second-handed Mac or such, then the world is now a better place. And that's cool.

 

[NT1440]

This tells me there are some MAJOR updates one the way for these applications if they're trying to expand the user base so quickly.

 

[phillytim]

This tells me there are some MAJOR updates one the way for these applications if they're trying to expand the user base so quickly.

One can only hope, for the remaining relevancy of these applications.

 

[NT1440]

One can only hope.

I'd have to think if it was just iWork going completely free it would just to be fluffing up the user base, but Garageband? Something is up.

 

[Steve121178]

A very strong move against Microsoft Office. I must admit, back when I was still using macOS these programs were a very productive and efficient addition to my workflow.

Strong move? They are crap compared to Office and have no place in the enterprise. It won't make a dent in Office 365 subscriptions.

 

[Micky Do]

They made them free to any new owner since 2013... surely everyone has met that criteria by now right? Who will this appeal to?

Genuinely curious, not bashing!

(Edit:Thanks for all the answers and I got another answer from the update in the post).

Not me….. still using the Mac Mini I bought in 2009, the only Apple product I own. No smartphone or tablet in my simple life.

I paid for iWork, which came on a CD back then. No regrets; it may not have all the bells and whistles of Office, but the iWork apps have all I need and are easier to use.

 

[mollyc]

I will probably download them. I have a late 2012 iMac which is perfectly fine for me currently. But my version of Office is Office 2008. It works okay but takes forever to open. But I am a SAHM who is a photographer, so my days are spent in PS and LR, not making spreadsheets or documents. For the few times I need them, I think the iWork apps would be great. I have no desire to upgrade to a newer version of Office, nor pay a subscription rate for it. I need access to a word processor and spreadsheet, but just not that often.

 

[sracer]

I tried using Pages and Numbers, but they were not very intuitive so I went back to Microsoft Office. Since Apple has a reputation of not continually improving its apps, I suspect they're still inferior products.

"intuitive" is relative.... relative to what you are comfortable with and familiar with. The document creation workflow in iWork is quite a bit different than for MS Office. Back-in-the-day, I used ClarisWorks (the great-grandfather of iWork) for Windows instead of MS Office even though I have extensive experience with MS Office. The workflow was just so much more streamlined.

That tradition was carried on from ClarisWorks to AppleWorks to iWork '09 to iWork (Dumb Dora Edition).

This is not true for all document creation scenarios but, for me using the iWork mindset to create docs in iWork is superior to using the MS Office mindset to create docs in MS Office. But there are still documents that are easier to create using MS Office and in those scenarios, I use MS Office.

It is a bit sad to see many quick to dismiss iWork as being nothing more advanced than Google Docs or the web version of MS Office. It is far more than those... even in the latest dumbed-down incarnation.

 

[GeneralChang]

The real question is who uses iWorks?

You can get a free basic Office or Google Docs online or you can download free LibreOffice or OpenOffice...
I am all for alternative but serious attempts... iWorks seems to be a "me too" suite...

That being said, I still feel Keynote is the best "slides" app out there but I could be wrong since I didn't use PowerPoint in a loooong time

Pages has much more consistent and reliable layout features than anything else out there (aside from pro apps). There are some things I prefer LibreOffice for (compatibility) and some things I like better in Google Docs (multi-user editing), but Pages does some stuff better than anyone else and it certainly has its uses in a serious workflow.
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I'd have to think if it was just iWork going completely free it would just to be fluffing up the user base, but Garageband? Something is up.

I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic, but I'm going to assume you've got some experience with GarageBand and its competitors and go from there.

Everyone is on here arguing the virtues/lack thereof of iWork, but what about GarageBand and iMovie? These are tools that rival or outright shame a lot of prosumer tools in their spaces, for free to any Mac user running El Cap or Sierra. Forget iWork, this is the real news.

 

[Acorn]

I thought the last time I tried to download these they were "free" but you had to pay to unlock full functionality. like you could read docs but not create them unless you paid. or was that the microsoft apps.

 

[mollyc]

I thought I would download these free apps and got locked into a ridiculous spiral of changing passwords, double authentication, resetting with codes by email that I just gave up. Nothing I did over the course of 1 hour seemed to allow me to download a free app. Just put a button on the App Store that lets anyone get free stuff without all this maze of confusion.
I will continue with Open Office. That was a piece of cake to get. Apple take note and keep your "free" apps.

I had no trouble downloading and installing them.

I do wish they would open them up to older OSes, though; my kids still use my 2008 iMac and it would be nice to put these on their computer. Although, most of their work is done through Google Docs through their school website, so I suppose it doesn't matter. As soon as Apple releases the new iMac, my kids will get this 2012 one as an "upgrade" and I will get a new machine.

 

[phillytim]

I thought the last time I tried to download these they were "free" but you had to pay to unlock full functionality. like you could read docs but not create them unless you paid. or was that the microsoft apps.

That sounds like MS Apps, not the iWork ones.

 

[winmaciek]

Remember iPhoto on iOS? That was a weird piece of software.

My favorite iLife and iWork app on iOS. Second even to Keynote. Much better and more intuitive than any other photo app on iOS. Unfortunately, the limitations of pre-iOS 8 photo management didn't allow it to shine.

 

[ranger_dood]

We've been fighting with Apple for 4 years to give us the iWork apps for our 750 devices. We had purchased them in July of 2013, and they started offering the apps for free on hardware purchased after September of 2013. We couldn't afford $5 per app per student, so we had a combination of buying a few licenses for important people, installing under a single Apple ID, and just telling the administration that the students couldn't have them.

This made a lot of people mad, but we couldn't bargain with Apple to make them available to us for free. Finally, last year our Apple Rep told us that since the devices weren't deployed until after the cutoff date (they deployed them just before Christmas break 2013), that they could enter our serial numbers into their systems to get the apps for free.

We sent the serial numbers over and waited... and waited, and waited. Follow up emails were met with "We're working on it". After a few months, they replied that everything was set! We should have the apps now! Only, we didn't... Some devices would get Pages and Numbers, but not Keynote, iMovie, or GarageBand. Others had no apps at all, or a mix of different ones. We gave up on it again.

Then earlier this year, we were made aware of a site where you could submit your serial #'s and they would add the apps to your VPP account for Managed Distribution. We jumped on that, and sent over a list of 450 serial numbers that had all been purchased on the same order under the same PO. After a few days they replied that 350 had been approved, but the other 100 couldn't be verified. At this point, I just gave up. It was 2 months ago. 2 months... there had to be chatter in the channels that this was coming. But no amount of complaining to my Apple contacts could change anything.

Here we are, 2 months later, and I can put an order in on my VPP account for 10,000 licenses if I want to.

Thanks Apple, for nothing.

 

[NT1440]

I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic, but I'm going to assume you've got some experience with GarageBand and its competitors and go from there.

Everyone is on here arguing the virtues/lack thereof of iWork, but what about GarageBand and iMovie? These are tools that rival or outright shame a lot of prosumer tools in their spaces, for free to any Mac user running El Cap or Sierra. Forget iWork, this is the real news.

Not being sarcastic at all. Garageband being free for all on iOS is a huge deal for creatives.

 

[techwarrior]

A very strong move against Microsoft Office.

A very strong move would be a free version for Windows. Sure, you can edit an iWork doc on the web, but a native PC app would put a dagger right in the heart of one of the first and last money makers for MS.

 

[sracer]

A very strong move would be a free version for Windows. Sure, you can edit an iWork doc on the web, but a native PC app would put a dagger right in the heart of one of the first and last money makers for MS.

I believe that would do the exact opposite.

iWork for Windows would give iPhone/iPad users who don't own a Mac more reason to be comfortable with their Windows system. Apple wants to to pull those folks over completely into the Apple fold. Apple's strategy is a bet that more people find their smartphone more indispensable than their desktop/notebook... and that they would be willing to switch to a macOS device if it made using their iPhone more integrated.

I'm not saying that I agree with that approach. Personally I'd love to see a full-functioned iWork for Windows. I'd also like to see Bento resurrected and included in iWork. (Claris/AppleWorks had a flat-file database module)

 

[IJ Reilly]

Since Apple seems so committed to a dumbed-down Pages for iOS cross-compatibility, wouldn't it be so nice for Apple to go back and chop out the "page layout" chunk of Pages '09, maybe put a new coat of paint on the UI after 8 years of ignoring it, and rebranding it Apple Publisher for Mac or Apple Simple Publisher or similar?

Then Pages can stick with being a MacOS & iOS simple word processor while this Publisher can be a more powerful "Pro" alternative exclusive for the Mac platform. Personally, I'd pay a pretty high price- even annually- for THAT application if I could know that it was going to be maintained for at least several future iterations of MacOS. And I could return to pointing clients toward getting a Mac platform mostly for the benefit of such an easy-to-use but very capable (simple) Page Layout program.

The new Pages just can't compete with Pages '09 in many crucial ways... and since it seems locked to feature parity with iOS, I doubt it will ever resurrect crucial features that make the DTP side of Pages '09 so terrific. Pages '09 still works pretty well with the current MacOS version but we all know it's only a matter of time until some key feature breaks and then that's it for Pages '09 if you want to evolve the OS.

Something like this needs to be done. The other possibility is an advanced mode in Pages that includes the features they deleted in 5.0 to create feature parity with the iOS version. But it also has to be said that some of the lost features of Pages don't make sense even as a parity ploy. Inserting document sections, for example, isn't a page layout feature but a damned useful one for word processing document creation. I realize probably few discovered the ability to create templates wth this feature, but dropping it made no sense, even from a feature parity point of view. I kept expecting it to come back, but no.

 

[emboahora]

iWork is not worth a cent. So, it should have been free since 2013

It depends on how deep is the user needs. I rely on iWork apps for years, cleaner UI and very practical. I just open Microsoft Office Apps when I need to screenshot some feature to explain to a client.

 

[techwarrior]

iWork for Windows would give iPhone/iPad users who don't own a Mac more reason to be comfortable with their Windows system.

Perhaps, but it would also drive many PC users to iOS which is Apple's rainmaker. Plus, it would further the compelling reasons to adopt Mac in the enterprise. No doubt Apple would leave a few things out of iWork for Winders to help promote Macs.

With all the work Apple and IBM are doing these days, I suspect a lot of big Enterprise initiatives will be rolling out in the coming years.

One of the biggest gaps (for power users) is the lack of automation support. Sure, AppleScript can do some stuff with iWork, but VBA seems far more complete and integrated. Perhaps the recent news of changes in staff supporting the Mac scripting technologies, coupled with the recent acquisition of Workflow, maybe some Mac automation enhancements are in the wind for Mac and iWork... one could hope!