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iOS 7 Beta Suggests iWork, iLife iOS Apps May Soon Be Free
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I'd be surprised if they didn't do this for the OS X versions too - there are still a lot of people using iWork '07 from disc that they have to provide a separate update for, it would be easier for everything to be on the App Store.
Yea, that would be great! I don't even mind if I have to pay as long as they put out something new and competitive.
For example, Numbers is so outdated that is impossible to work with. Microsoft Office has the upper hand because of the formulas and equations are updated and there is no limitation on what you can use them for. I use MS for Engineering stuff and it can pull out some crazy stuff, but the same can't be achievable by Numbers no matter what you do.
I also wish they release a new version of Aperture, since Lightroom is taking it over.
Honestly, I have not idea what is going on with Apple software, their own products are so outdated, the full iWork suit came out in 2009 right? So that is a 6-7 yr old software, and Aperture came in 2010, that is 3-4 years!
Come on!
At that point why not make them all preinstalled on iOS devices?
Is it to prevent lawsuits over anticompetitive practices?
Is it to prevent lawsuits over anticompetitive practices?
That would be a great move from Apple, I mean one of the great things about buying a mac instead of a PC is iLife and it comes bundled in when you buy a mac for free! This would truly differentiate the iPhone and iPad from android phones and tablets!
I also really hope we get a new version of iLife for the mac this year...
I also really hope we get a new version of iLife for the mac this year...
Pages is about 300 MB. If they included the whole lot that'd be about a GB of space taken up. Add in iLife and you're looking closer to 2 GB.
This is fine if you have a large device or plan to use these apps but no good for others. Far better to make them free and optional.
How does making pages free affect the iPad's status in any way as to the type of device it is? The app (and other apps to create) exist. The availability, and usefulness of those apps to me, not whether they are free or not defines the device. I mean an iMac doesn't come with iWork either. Would you consider an iMac more of a consumption device or creation device.
Snark aside, Apple bundled in productivity app (AppleWorks) with Macs before Google even existed. So did many PC companies. Google is hardly novel there in the concept. The funny thing is that Apple was really the first consumer company to push "the cloud" with the iTools service.
autrefois
macrumors 65816
Great, so now it will be like when MobileMe switched to iCloud. Apple will have lost any slight motivation they may have had to address any bugs or missing features in iWork and iLife. Once the new version is launched, they won't add any new features, and will possibly take some old ones away (remember iDisk, Gallery...?). And then when people complain about this, the answer will be hey, it's free, so stop complaining. 
Adds a good deal of value to any future iPhone/iPad purchase. Of course the Apple-haters will think nothing of this, and will continue to hate Apple anyways. But this might lure many on-the-fence education and business institutions where FREE bundled productivity apps are a critical deciding factor. If it's true, then certainly a good move by Apple.
iTools were free, iPhone 3GS, MacBooks, iBooks, AppleTV are plastic, maps are developed by all major platforms - MS, Google, Apple, Yahoo etc.
What's your argument?
Yeah, me too. I don't mind having to pay for software, as long as the price is reasonable. And US$ 19.99 is a real bargain for Pages, Numbers and Keynote on the OS X. The problem is that they are really outdated after four years with virtually no upgrades at all. iWork has never been on par with Microsoft Office, but I had the hope it would eventually catch up because update cycles were shorter. But I was wrong, as Apple put the last version out in 2009 with minor improvements and began focusing on iToys. Even Keynote, which has been acclaimed by many as a superior alternative to its Microsoft counterpart, is outdated now, and falls short of PowerPoint 2013.
How are we supposed to justify paying the high price tag of a Mac without having productivity software on par with the ones which are widely available for Windows? We have to stick with Microsoft Office for Mac, which is not half as good as the Windows version. Apple should just spend some billions of its cash to make an office suite that is really better than Microsoft Office. I know that won't happen, though, and it really disappoints me, as I have to keep running Windows on BootCamp/Parallels so I can use the vastly superior Microsoft Office for Windows instead of all these crappy Mac alternatives.
I think you are onto something.
The paid versions will be updated iWork 2013 versions (aka Pro versions) and current iWork apps will be free. Makes total sense and good value (and I have bought iOS suite)
This is move is so necessary. The benefits will be huge. I think the importance of the productivity suite is even more important than the creative suite. iWork bundled into Mac and iOS is something I've been waiting a long time to see. Microsoft's misleading ads comparing the iPad and Surface are a big reason why. I also believe they applications could use a major update as well.
Current version bundled with new Macs, that's what I would predict. Why Apple didn't start doing this years ago, I have no idea. We'd be looking at a much larger installed base of iWork users today if they had.
Is it un-Apple?
iCloud is free and it used to be paid. OS updates for iOS devices are free and used to be paid. This would merely be continuing that trend.
Great!
Since iOS is essentially becoming the dominant tablet/future computing device that schools and businesses are choosing, I really hope iWork becomes free and wipes Office dominance off the map.
After purchasing Office for Mac a few years ago, I just bought a new SSD and decided to go with a clean install since I didn't exactly know what applications were good when switching from Win7, and had lots of junk. When I went to activate Office, it wouldn't accept my key because it had already been used. No problem right? Just call support and explain to them. The only problem is literally their support was a robot voice asking for a ridiculously long irrelevant number, only to LITERALLY just say "Goodbye" and hanging up.
In short, I really don't like having to use Office for school, and I really want it to go away forever (Unrealistic, I know)
Since iOS is essentially becoming the dominant tablet/future computing device that schools and businesses are choosing, I really hope iWork becomes free and wipes Office dominance off the map.
After purchasing Office for Mac a few years ago, I just bought a new SSD and decided to go with a clean install since I didn't exactly know what applications were good when switching from Win7, and had lots of junk. When I went to activate Office, it wouldn't accept my key because it had already been used. No problem right? Just call support and explain to them. The only problem is literally their support was a robot voice asking for a ridiculously long irrelevant number, only to LITERALLY just say "Goodbye" and hanging up.
In short, I really don't like having to use Office for school, and I really want it to go away forever (Unrealistic, I know)
Ditto.
That makes me furious. I want Apple's integration at least on the software they "currently" make. They are famous for that, those were the good old days, what on earth has happened!?
Like you said, Apple os focusing on "iToys" and they either slow down or are not going to be able to keep up with the crazy demands of their customers. I know people that are already waiting for the iPhone 34s.
Funny, but as far as I am concerned, iWork beats Office hands down in real-world use, and has done since the first release. I don't need features for the sake of features, or newness just for the sake of newness. If you are going say that an app is "outdated" then you need to point out how, specifically.
iCloud being "free" is a very limited amount of storage - much of what I suggest in this concept of having a free and a paid version of the iWork apps.
I don't recall iOS updates being paid.
Apple does not have a track record of giving away the farm, whether it be apps (almost always paid), or hardware.
I think this is a move that is reactionary to so many apps out there across multiple developers and platforms that are free. Ad based or not, but still free.