Apple Creator Studio: Deployment Considerations

By: Andrea Menotti, Consulting Engineer

Apple recently introduced Apple Creator Studio. This subscription brings together powerful creative apps — Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage — with new AI features and premium content in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. We’ve rounded up some questions that schools have asked us about this new subscription and answered them below. As always, please reach out to your Apple Education team with additional questions!

Can schools subscribe to Apple Creator Studio?

Subscriptions and in-app purchases are currently not available for institutions in Apple School Manager. One-time purchase versions of Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage for Mac continue to be available.

Can schools continue to use Keynote, Pages, and Numbers without this subscription?

Yes. Customers can continue to view, edit, and create projects in these apps and collaborate with others without subscribing.

Why are there new Keynote, Pages, and Numbers apps for Mac?

Keynote, Pages, and Numbers (15.1) have transitioned to universal purchase and now appear as a single listing across platforms on the App Store. Schools can continue to use the 14.5 versions on Mac until they are ready to transition. However, collaboration requires the new version. 

For end users, we have published guidance on transitioning from Keynote/Pages/Numbers 14.5 to Keynote/Pages/Numbers 15.1 when using password-protected documents.

Using Device Management to deploy these new versions of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers simplifies the transition. Once your end users are using the new apps, you will want to remove the prior (14.5) versions. Remember that if you had the old versions of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers in a dock configuration, you will want to update that configuration with the new versions as well.

What about the Pro Apps Bundle for Education, which includes one-time purchase versions of Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage; Is this still available for purchase?

Yes. The Pro Apps Bundle for Education is still available via your Apple Education Store. If you have already purchased this bundle, you can continue to use these apps as before.

For Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, can schools ensure that students and teachers are not prompted to purchase the new subscription?

Yes. Subscription prompts are suppressed in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers when a Managed Apple Account is signed into the primary account in Settings on the device. 

A Managed App Configuration (or Managed Preference for macOS) is available for Keynote, Pages, and Numbers to suppress the subscription prompts in situations where a Personal Apple Account is used. It is as follows:

<dict>
<key>suppressPrompts</key>
<true/>
</dict>

Documentation for this configuration is found in our Apple Platform Deployment guide. 

Some of Creator Studio’s new intelligence features in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers leverage OpenAI. Do existing Apple Intelligence restrictions apply to those?

The allowExternalIntelligenceIntegrations restriction is built for system provided features, like Compose with ChatGPT in Writing Tools. The Creator Studio AI features in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers continue to function in the presence of this restriction, just like AI features in any third party app would.

Our school has no accounts in Settings. We are seeing a sign-in prompt on launch with Keynote/Pages/Numbers 15.1.

With no Apple account in Settings, users will see a sign-in prompt when the app launches. Users can tap Cancel to dismiss this prompt and continue to work as normal. Deploying the allowAccountModification restriction will prevent this sign-in prompt from appearing. A fix for this issue is testable in the first 26.4 beta.

There is a student and educator discount for Apple Creator Studio. Who is this for?

This is for college students and college educators (affiliated with a higher education institution) who purchase the subscription with a Personal Apple Account. They can go through the in-app purchase flow and choose an education plan as described in our documentation. The buyer’s affiliation with their higher education institution will be verified as part of the purchase flow.

In the latest versions of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, can subscribers and non-subscribers still collaborate? What will happen when Creator Studio premium content is used?

If one person in the document is a Creator Studio subscriber, all collaborators will have full access to premium content for that document, including when the document is shared offline.

Deployment & Management Keynote Pages Numbers Creativity Apps

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6 replies

February 06, 2026 Language English

Eagerly waiting for an option to stop the sign-in prompt on macOS without disabling Apple Account sign in. Some of our users sign in, some do not, so that is not an option for us.

February 12, 2026 Language English

It would be great for schools to be able to take advantage of the latest developments in iWork applications related to artificial intelligence.

February 12, 2026 Language English

As an APLS who has been collecting feedback from colleagues across Germany, Switzerland, and France, I want to flag what remains unresolved — and suggest what I believe would be the strongest path forward.

What's still open:

  • Privacy/analytics: No guidance yet on what data iWork collects, and no MDM-scalable opt-out for school deployments. DPOs are asking — we need an answer.
  • OpenAI features: Schools that restrict external AI via allowExternalIntelligenceIntegrations have no equivalent control for Creator Studio's OpenAI-powered features. That's a compliance gap.
  • SheerID: Education verification doesn't recognize many schools in France and Switzerland. No K-12 path exists.
  • The core problem: Pro features can't be purchased for Managed Apple Accounts. Meanwhile, Canva for Education and Google tools like NotebookLM offer comparable or superior creative/AI features — for free.

What I'd love to see as a solution:

Make iWork Pro features available at no cost for Managed Apple Accounts in education — the same model Canva, Notability, and others already use. Pair that with clear privacy documentation, MDM controls for AI features, and continued investment in Apple's education ecosystem (Schoolwork, Classroom, iCloud collaboration).

That single move would let APLS confidently advocate for Apple-first workflows again. Without it, the gap to the competition keeps growing.

February 12, 2026 Language English

I think it could be great for us APLs to have a free account for iWork Pro features as we need to show how powerful it is for an audience. But if it couldn't be for any reason -I can't imagine why not, but…-, at least we as APLs shoud be able to have the apple educational account discount.

Also for the rest other AI based systems that Apple will be in a future

February 12, 2026 Language English

Completely agree with @ben

I also add Italy as country in which all the issues and consideration can apply to Creator Studio Apps.

February 13, 2026 Language English

As a staff member at an Apple Distinguished School, I’ve seen how Apple’s tools transform education and foster creativity at all levels, especially in K-12 classrooms where foundational skills and passions are first developed. By limiting educational discounts for Apple Creator Studio to higher education staff and students, Apple is overlooking the critical role K-12 education plays in shaping future innovators. Creativity doesn’t start in college, it starts when students first engage with tools that inspire them, and by making these tools less accessible, Apple risks hindering this early exploration.

K-12 educators are preparing the workforce of tomorrow, and access to Creator Studio would help students develop real-world skills using industry-standard tools. Many K-12 schools, especially in underserved communities, rely on tight budgets, and extending discounts would promote equity in education. By including K-12 students and staff, Apple would reinforce its commitment to empowering all learners, strengthening its partnership with innovative schools, and investing in the loyalty of future creators who will grow up using Apple’s ecosystem.

I certianly hope the educator discount will be available to the k-12 education community in the near future.

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