Apple Logic Pro 12

Apple’s Logic Pro 12 in all its glory. The Mac version now includes the Sound Library window previously found in Logic Pro for iPad.

The latest release of Logic Pro has been introduced as part of Apple’s Creator Studio bundle, but does Logic Pro 12 offer meaningful improvements for power users?

The last time Logic Pro was sold as part of a larger suite of applications was in the Logic Pro 9 era. Logic Studio — comprising Logic Pro, MainStage, Compressor and two now‑defunct applications — had been introduced in late 2007, arriving, like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, in a big black box. It was intended as the music‑and‑audio counterpart to Final Cut Studio, which had debuted two years earlier, unifying Apple’s video applications. However, with the subsequent move to digital‑only releases via the Mac App Store, Apple decided that bundles were out and single applications were back in vogue.

When Logic Pro 9 transitioned to the Mac App Store at the now‑familiar price of £199.99$199.99 in 2011, users questioned how Apple would handle upgrade pricing, since the platform didn’t — and still doesn’t — provide an obvious mechanism. This concern was addressed when Logic Pro X followed and no upgrade path was offered. Existing users had to purchase the new version as though it were a new product, although since Logic Pro X cost the same £199$199 as the previous upgrade from Logic Pro 8 to version 9, this could still be framed as familiar territory. Nevertheless, for anyone who grumbled at the time, I think 13 years of free upgrades has perhaps squared that particular circle.

Since then, software pricing has shifted toward subscriptions, often to the disgruntlement of users. And while some will argue it’s nice to own something outright, that notion seems increasingly optimistic in the world of modern software licensing, where ownership can feel like a Faustian pact tied to compatibility and copy protection.

All of which brings us neatly to January 13th, when Apple announced Creator Studio, once again making Logic Pro a member of an application bundle.

The Creator Myth

Creator Studio brings together Apple’s family of creative and productivity applications under a single licensing umbrella, lowering the cost of using the Mac and iPad versions of Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Pixelmator Pro, MainStage and — of course — Logic Pro to just £12.99$12.99 per month (or £129$129 annually). And while that is, by any reasonable measure, astonishingly good value (see box), there’s just something faintly absurd about seeing Logic Pro or Final Cut Pro listed — with equal billing — alongside a spreadsheet.

However, before existing Logic users cry havoc and let slip the cost of subscriptions, it’s important to stress that nothing has been taken away. Every application included in Creator Studio remains available as a one‑time purchase, meaning Logic Pro users can still upgrade to version 12 at no extra cost, just as before. The only difference is that if you use Logic as part of the Creator Studio bundle, there’s a separate product entry on the Mac App Store listed as Logic Pro: Make Music with a new icon adopting the updated familial aesthetic.

It’s also important to note that, in the same way nothing is being removed from the one‑time purchase version of Logic Pro, nothing is being added exclusively for Logic users who subscribe to Creator Studio either. This isn’t the case for every application included in the bundle, however, with Pages, Numbers and Keynote featuring a new Content Hub that offers access to additional photos, graphics and illustrations to be used within your documents. And while this isn’t part of the current plan for Logic Pro, it’s not impossible to imagine Apple offering similar subscriber‑only content for other Creator Studio applications in the future.

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