Office apps subscription only now??

Nope, the free versions work just like they did before. You may be seeing an announcement of the new Apple Creator Studio subscription package that includes new features across a variety of apps including Numbers, Pages, Keynote, Logic Pro, Motion, etc. The extras that would require a subscription are generally for additional AI features in those apps and access to additional content.

Here is the statement from Apple and what is included for those that may find the subscription useful for their workflow:

Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform will remain free for all users to create, edit, and collaborate with others, including Apple Creator Studio subscribers. These apps will continue receiving updates, with the latest versions adopting the beautiful new visual design language with Liquid Glass on all platforms, and supporting the new windowing and menu bar improvements in iPadOS 26.

Introducing Apple Creator Studio, an inspiring collection of creative apps - Apple (NE)

You also may be getting a prompt to download the new version as that was made available today too. It may help to provide a screenshot of what you are seeing to be able to offer additional assistance. It is a little confusing as the new Pages version is a different app where after you download it (or update the previous one), you will have 2 Pages icons on the Mac in your Applications folder and when you launch the old one there is a message that says that one can be deleted and to use the new one from now on.

On macOS, you may see updates for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote from v14.4 to v14.5. After you update these, when you launch them, you will see a dialog that says v14.5 is end of life, and it will ask if you want to update to v15.1 of these applications. If you agree, it will offer an install button and that will require you to enter your Apple ID for each application. There is no automatic subscription to Apple's Creator Studio. There is a menu item on the respective application menu "Get Apple Creator Studio" which is an in-app subscription purchase, if you choose to go there…

On macOS, the v15.1 applications require macOS Sequoia v15.6 or later.

On iOS/iPadOS 26.2.1, the only updates that appear in the App Store are those for v15.1 of these applications. There is no automatic subscription to Creator Studio. iOS/iPadOS 18.0 or later is required.

bobthegoatdude wrote:

WHEW! THANKS!! Yea, it IS confusing. I only use the very basic functions of Pages and Numbers and it would not make sense for me to pay for that. Thought there for a few minutes I had just gotten locked out of years worth of my data. 🤦🏼‍♂️

You're all good!