How to update Pages, Keynote, and Numbers without Apple Creator Studio subscription?

Although there is a Apple Creator Studio entry in the Mac App Store. Do not click that choice, as v15.1 of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are offered separately and do not subscribe you to the studio. They do have optional in-app purchase capability for a subscription if you want that later.

Launch the Mac App Store, and search for Pages. Numbers and Keynote will also be on that resulting screen. Install these.

The installation of the above v15.1 application versions do not remove existing v14.4 applications, which Apple will expect you to remove. You will also observe that while they remain, the v14.4 apps are the default in the Finder's Open With menu. You cannot copy/paste document content from Pages v14.4 into Pages v15.1, but you can from other applications such as Word or LibreOffice, to name a couple.

The introduction of the Apple Creator Studio makes some templates only accessible from that subscription. These templates with their special icon identification are intermixed with non-premium templates, despite Apple having a template category marked Premium. There is nothing you can do about that, for now.

These are exclusively public, fellow-user supported communities. No Apple employees participate here and why/new development questions regarding internal Apple products will go unanswered. Not even speculation.

Pages has always been developed for consumers. There is no professional version as that is in the mindset of the user. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote remain free. Apple is not forcing anyone to do anything. If you want access to additional templates/features that are only available in a Creator Suite subscription, that is strictly a user option from the in-app purchase from the application's menu.

relhen wrote:

Mac Jim ID - Thanks. I am using macOS 26.2. I have assumed I can install the latest individual versions of Pages etc but would like the option of using advanced features (if, of course, they can be used on an Intel Mac) without paying for separate subscriptions for each app.

Ok, Apple does document that the Image Generation, Generate Presentation, and Generator Presentation Notes features require a Silicon Mac.

About Apple Creator Studio - Apple Support

In any case, you have a 30 day free trial to the Creator subscription to determine if the features that are available on your Intel Mac are worth it. If not, then cancel the subscription at least a day before the subscription start date and you won't have to pay anything. There is no subscription for each app, it is one subscription that covers all the apps.

relhen wrote:

Peggy - Thanks for the comment. However, as I said, the macOS app store indicates that I can’t install Creator Studio on my 2020 Intel iMac. So I assume I can’t use any of the new app features because I can’t install the Creator Studio suite. Is this because all of the new features require AI, which is not available on my iMac, or is it for some other reason? Either way, I think I am out of luck until I move to Apple silicon in a year or so.

What Mac OS version do you have? The requirement is not whether you have an Intel Mac, you must be using Mac OS 15.6 or later. I have all the new versions installed on my 2019 Intel Mac with OS 15.7.3, so that has nothing to do with it.

Apple Creator Studio versions of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers will require iOS 18.0 or later, iPadOS 18.0 or later, or macOS Sequoia 15.6 or later. Some intelligent features including image generation will require iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS Tahoe.

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

You are not required to pay anything to use the new versions of the apps with all the features of the previous apps. Use the new apps like you always had without paying a thing. All documents created with the previous version will open just fine with the new version and also documents created with the new version will open with the previous version.

Does that mean that I must update and individually pay for EACH of the updated Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps if I want all of their features?

Pages and Numbers continue to be free. If you choose to use the "premium features" of the new 15.x versions of Pages & Numbers, you will need to subscribe to the Creator Studio. That will include all of the Creator Studio apps and their content.

I'd like the ability to just subscribe to the added Pages & Numbers premium content if I want. I have no need for any of the other apps.

It is new way of forsing users to subscriptions? It reminds me evolution of Microsoft services... generally bad for business and popularity. I replaced MS Windows with Linux already. I was enjoying Apple quality of service till now (on/off about 25 years). Any explanation for next developments in software and services? Why don't you separate Pages for users from Pages for professionals... ?

Thank you for honest explanation.

Regards

Aside from not liking the new subscription model, I am bothered that, as an owner of a high-end 2020 Intel iMac, I am apparently not able to install Creator Studio, probably because of AI requirements of some of the apps. (I do want to move to an M series Mac, but that is not in the cards just yet.) Does that mean that I must update and individually pay for EACH of the updated Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps if I want all of their features? Since I use Pages and Numbers for only a few documents -- because Word and Excel remain the de facto standards for most computer users -- and I never use Keynote, I will probably just quit using Apple's iWork apps altogether. I can understand why an Intel Mac can't use some updated apps. However, the pure greed of the world's richest corporation by moving to a subscription model makes me question my continued loyalty to Apple (which began with my first Mac in 1984).

Peggy - Thanks for the comment. However, as I said, the macOS app store indicates that I can’t install Creator Studio on my 2020 Intel iMac. So I assume I can’t use any of the new app features because I can’t install the Creator Studio suite. Is this because all of the new features require AI, which is not available on my iMac, or is it for some other reason? Either way, I think I am out of luck until I move to Apple silicon in a year or so.

Mac Jim ID - Thanks. I am using macOS 26.2. I have assumed I can install the latest individual versions of Pages etc but would like the option of using advanced features (if, of course, they can be used on an Intel Mac) without paying for separate subscriptions for each app.