Apple kills off Pro Apps for Education in favor of Creator Studio education subscription

In a less-than-surprising move, Apple has quietly nixed its budget-friendly bundle of creative professional apps geared towards students and educators, instead pushing customers towards an Apple Creator Studio subscription at a discounted price.

Apple has officially removed its "Pro Apps Bundle for Education" from its online educational store, ending the ultra-affordable, one-time purchase for its pro-level creative apps. Until recently, students and educators could download Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage for $199 in the US, and comparable prices globally.

Apple first launched the bundle in early 2017.

According to the Wayback Machine, you could still get the bundle as recently as January 13. Seeing as Apple announced the Creator Studio bundle on the same day, it's likely it quietly removed the page shortly after.

Instead, Apple now offers educational pricing for its newly launched Creator Studio bundle. Educators and students can subscribe to Creator Studio for $2.99 a month — or $29.99 per year — in the US, with comparable pricing globally.

To qualify, students and educators must verify their educational status yearly. If they no longer meet criteria, they will be required to resubscribe at standard pricing, which currently is $12.99 per month, or $129 per year.

In the footnotes, Apple notes that the deal is classified as a "limited-time offer" option and that the offer "may end at any time." Unlike standard subscriptions, education subscriptions may not be shared with family groups.

If you've already purchased the Pro Apps for Education, you won't lose access to your apps. Apple says it will continue to honor the one-time purchase licenses — at least for the time being.

While Apple Creator Studio is a subscription plan, it does offer a bit more than the original Pro Apps for Education. You still get Final Cut, Logic Pro, Freeform, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage. However, you also get expanded features for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform, as well as Pixelmator Pro for both Mac and iPad.