Apple has made its core productivity and creative apps free for all iPhone, iPad, and Mac users.
Previously these apps were only available for free for people who purchased a new Mac, iPhone, or iPad on or after September 1, 2013. However, owners of older Apple devices had to buy these apps separately for both Mac and iOS if they wanted to use them. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers for iOS were $9.99 each, and $19.99 each for their Mac counterparts. iMovie and GarageBand were $4.99 each for iOS but came pre-installed on Mac. So if you were a student on a budget, a school, or even a small business, these prices might have made it difficult to justify purchasing—and weren’t too far out of the range of what Microsoft charged for Office. So switching from the usual productivity apps may not have been ideal, either.
But now, they’re completely free for all users—regardless of when you bought your device.
iWork—which is made up of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers—is Apple’s answer to Microsoft Office. They’re easy to use and quite powerful. And you can share the documents, presentations, and spreadsheets you make in these apps with people who use Word, PowerPoint, and Excel—or anyone on Mac or PC, regardless of what they use. And with iCloud, you can start creating content on your iPhone or iPad, and continue right where you left off on your Mac.
iMovie is Apple’s entry-level (but fantastic) video editor. You can not only edit video, but add titles, music, and effects, too. And GarageBand is Apple’s music creation app where you can not only create, mix, record, and share your music—with or without an instrument—but learn how to play piano and guitar with lessons from famous artists. Check out this great video from The Verge’s Jake Kastrenakas’ to see how professional artist, T-Pain, uses GarageBand to create and record his music using just his iPad.
If you want to take advantage of Apple’s new generosity, click or tap the icons below to download the apps from the App Store or Mac App Store. And if you’re a business or educational institution, and enrolled in the Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP), you can get free managed distribution copies in the VPP store or check out Apple’s support post for more information:
