Rick Povich on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'I’ve used FCP since the Mac 840AV days. I still use it regularly and also use Compressor. I use Logic Pro frequently mostly for audio editing and adjustment. I also use Final Cut Camera occasionally to record and edit on my phone. LumaFusion is a good alternative in this case. I’ve used Pixelmator since it was first released for the iPhone and love it for its simplicity and speed when editing multi-image, multi-layer (to a degree) documents when I’m away from my iPads or MacBooks (it now works on iPhone, iPad, or Mac). Photomator for iPhone is very handy when you need to do quick, more in-depth photo editing and all you have is the phone and can export in various photo formats. It’s a more versatile photo editor than Pixelmator. I’d been a Pixelmator Pro and Photomator beta tester since the beginning (and before they were bought by Apple). They’re just a bit different: Photomator is a Lightroom competitor (which works hand-in-hand with the Photos app), and Pixelmator Pro is the Photoshop competitor. Photoshop always offered more capability than I really needed or would pay for. I’m really happy with Pixelmator Pro. I last owned Adobe CS3 – and still use it occasionally on my 2012 12″ MacBook Pro, however. Honestly, if you want the three main Adobe Suite photo/design programs for the Mac – for cheap, check out the new Affinity Program. Canva, IIRC, bought out the Affinity suite of three separate programs (Mac and iPad) this past year. It offers Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher. The interface isn’t quite the OSX interface and UI you’re accustomed to on Apple devices, but you can get the hang of it. They all do a really good job in their respective niche. It can be found at Affinity.Studio. It’s now one program with multiple applications within. If you want the Apple UI and capabilities, I think the Apple programs win overall but I dont think I’d pay for the entire “suite” any more than I’d pay for Adobe Creative Suite. If you want more Adobe-like interface and capability for photo programs, then Affinity is worth a try. If you need photo, video, document editing, as well as Microsoft programs, then you might be good with the Apple suite. If you have a Mac and iPad you can use Luma Fusion (iPadOS) on both devices. You can buy a Mac and get Pages and Numbers free and get a good deal on FCP/Logic Pro purchases without renting them.'
on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'Pages is surprisingly capable. I put together a 600 A3 page, graphic intense document, across 6 volumes, two years ago. A year before I was working with another design practice who put together a similar document using In Design. It struck me that they were only using the features that are available in Pages. Pages is such an easy learn compared to In Design and free (once you’ve bought the hardware). Pixelmator is my go to. Have used that amongst a team of Photoshop users. They had no idea I was using something different. Affinity Designer is my other go to but that’s been acquired by Canva. That’s a great little App. As for a subscription service… not a fan. Interestingly, Canva offer Affinity for free. This will no doubt erode Adobe’s subscription base. Is Apple making the right move?'
on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'I have paid for many of those apps so hard to justify subscribing. They are good apps if you need them.'
on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'Yes! You also make me miss Claris Home Page, iWeb, and iBooks Author. All discontinued page layout apps from Claris/ back in the day. I will have to use Pages now if I’m ever to publish a free book onto Apple’s Books app again. Sigh.'
on Apple TV engagement grew 36% in December - 'I thought this show was hilarious. At first, I made it through the first couple episodes and got distracted. It was for enough weeks that when I came back to it, I watched the first episodes again and finished the series. And then I watched it again. I loved the 9to5Mac headline, “ Apple TV comedy that mocked Golden Globes wins Golden Globes for best TV comedy.”'
on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'I sent an email to Tim Sweeney to get his thoughts on these Apps.'
on Richard Windsor: Apple and Google — Desperate Times - 'Hey Roger, I didn’t say it. It was a quote from the above article from Richard Windsor. I just was commenting on it.'
on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'I used to use FCP a lot and hope to get into it again. I use Pages, Keynote and Numbers all the time. It looks like the free versions will still work for me. I’m very curious about Pixelmator. I’ve been using the Affinity apps for Photos and Graphic, just at an amateur level.'
on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'OT but here goes. Apple Newsroom announced banner year for Apple Services, make a key point: “Apple TV’s engagement this past December soared, with total hours viewed up 36 percent compared to the previous year, setting a new record for monthly engagement.”'
on Premarket: Apple is red - 'Max pain stays at $225“ Either Apple’s stock price is going to take a big hit, or there’s going to be a lot of shorts to cover.'
on At $129/yr Apple Creator Studio seems like a bargain... if you use these apps - 'The only paid one I use is Logic Pro for the podcasts I edit. If this bundle had a real page layout application then Adobe would be more worried about'
on Ben Thompson: With Gemini, Apple has sealed its fate - 'Bill Fouche said: “For no particular reason, this post sparked memories of things various pundits swore Apple would never do. etc., etc.” **Great comment, Bill! I wish I could upvote it more than once! I especially liked your “personal favorite from 2006″…perhaps because it’s my personal favorite as well. 🙂'
on Richard Windsor: Apple and Google — Desperate Times - 'He was able to run pain-free at about 80% and ChatGPT convinced him it was safe to run the race. Over a multiyear period my ability to walk got progressively more difficult and painful, to the point that walking more than 100 feet is near impossible. Climbing stairs is an epic adventure (I live in a three story house). I thought the cause was knees becoming more arthritic, and was looking forward to my VA approved knee replacement. Since COVID my increasingly sedentary lifestyle has caused me to put on almost 50 lbs. That, of course, just aggravated everything. That knee theory imploded yesterday when it was discovered that arteries in my thighs were 80% calcium blocked. With the diagnosis the VA immediately approved having the arteries “opened up”. The VA is now trying to get me in this week for the procedure. Hopefully it will be a day procedure. Sometimes causes of problems are masked by other conditions that are hiding in plain site. I would imagine this occurs with new technologies as well. We can complain that the cause of my problems took so long to discover, or rejoice that the cause was ultimately discovered. I’m taking the latter position. I’m also taking that position with Apple’s product development. After all, Apple isn’t copying its competitors, it’s years out front of them. A lot of years.'
on Ben Thompson: With Gemini, Apple has sealed its fate - 'I can’t remember the exact terminology, but when Craig F. was doing all of those interviews and mentioning something akin to switching to version 2, this may be what they had in mind. The timing feels right for a summer 2026 roll out, and they have all of their options open to build/acquire/license whatever solution will be version 3 with time to do it right.'
on Ben Thompson: With Gemini, Apple has sealed its fate - 'For no particular reason, this post sparked memories of things various pundits swore Apple would never do. —Never make a CPU better than Intel’s —Never make a modem better than Qualcomm’s —Never compete with Google Maps and Waze by creating its own mapping service —And my personal favorite from 2006: “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” he said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.” It’s possible this time is different. But Ben Thompson has no idea. And his reasoning above is not very different from the reasoning offered by others in the past about things Apple would “never do.” Until they did.'
on Premarket: Apple is red - '“Max pain stays at $225…” This is signaling a major disconnect vis-a-vis Apple’s value. Interesting times….'
on Richard Windsor: Apple and Google — Desperate Times - '“Furthermore, Google will be incentivised to ensure that Android gets the latest AI features before Apple does, meaning that there could easily be a situation where Apple’s AI is worse than what is available on Android…” I really don’t see Android having “latest AI features” as any supposed massive selling point. That latest report from Counterpoint showed Samsung’s shipments went up a modest 5%, “growth was driven by the Galaxy A series, supported by mid-range demand, while the Galaxy Fold7 and S25 series drove traction in premium segments, outperforming their predecessors.” Frankly, how many midrange Android buyers are going to actively use AI to the point where they will pay for it or pay extra for AI features that might require the fastest Android Qualcomm Snapdragon chips or similar? And even though the current S25 and Z Foldables sold better than their predecessors, that’s a fairly low bar, especially if Samsung only rose from 222M to 233M. I suspect more than 70% of that growth or about 7.7M will be the A series while 2.2M will be from the S25 and 1.1M will be the Z Foldables. Since Google AI has NO presence in China, Apple has a real opportunity to forge its AI relationship with Alibaba that was announced in February 2025 and push ahead there. Meanwhile iPhones grew 10% or more than double the growth of Samsung while having less developed AI features, still showing that iPhone buyers are not using lack of AI as a dealbreaker.'
