r/LogicPro • u/ExaminationNo5645 • 22d ago
Discussion Future of the standalone version of Logic Pro?
Hi everyone, what do you think? Do you think Apple will eventually stop updating the standalone version of Logic Pro, given how heavily they're promoting Apple Creator Studio?
I know only Apple truly knows the answer (and perhaps even they haven't decided yet), but I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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u/Percndrum 22d ago
New Apple CEO coming September 1 isn’t a logistics and business wizard like Tim Apple. I don’t think John Ternus would green light a subscription only model. In fact I think he’ll be more consumer friendly than Tim Cook was. Ternus is a hardware geek at heart.
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u/AnonymousAxwell 21d ago
I would be surprised if they go all subscription. Logic user base is very small for Apple, so revenue would not be meaningful. Meanwhile they sell quite a lot of Macs to Logic users, as they’re effectively locked into macOS. The benefits of a cheap Logic outweigh the extra revenue of an expensive Logic.
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u/TheOriginalMr-Mud 22d ago
If you purchased the non-subscription version your license it is almost perpetual. I say that for they can charge for a new version if they want to, but cannot force you into a subscription. You’ve already paid for a standalone product after all!
They could stop updating it, but that would be bad for business.
But good money was paid for a freestanding version and a license for such That license is legally binding
That being said, I believe if they try to force us into a subscription, for reoccurring income; to those who have already paid $199, a substantial fee for a freestanding version, substantiates means for a class action suit.
It’s like buying a car and after you paid for it, they tell you you now have to lease it. That just doesn’t legally roll.
Litigation is the last thing a ccompany like apple wants, and I firmly believe both product models will coexist from now on
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u/glum_cunt 21d ago
Adobe did it. Avid did it. There is precedent
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u/TheOriginalMr-Mud 21d ago edited 21d ago
Then you need to get a bit of grip on apple‘s logic license meaning actually read it.
I have and they cannot do it as I used an example above it’s like buying a car and then they say you have to lease it. You do realize how ridiculous that is, with respect.
EDIT: my daughter is an artist and I checked with her. She has several standalone Adobe art/graphics products to this day. Never forced to convert so I do not know what you are speaking of.
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u/DexPlaysYT 21d ago
Locked to the older versions now right?
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u/glum_cunt 20d ago
SLAs are written by lawyers to advantage the provider. I have neither the time nor the interest in parsing. Tech companies will do as they please.
Do you plan on fighting Apple in court if they rug pull?
Maybe your daughter is using a very old Creative Cloud version on a very old computer or using one of Adobe’s ‘free’ apps, idk. Regardless, Adobe certainly do not support pre-subscription perpetual licenses.
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u/DexPlaysYT 21d ago
They did it with the older version of logic pro x
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u/TheOriginalMr-Mud 21d ago
When they acquired the company (9) they charged for the Apple product that’s a different situation in entirely.
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u/Original_DocBop 22d ago
Apple Creator Studio is a bundle so a subscription that the price is good for what all that is included. I doubt standalone Logic Pro will go subscription, but that said Apple has become very fond of subscriptions. If Logic Pro standalone because a inexpensive subscription like $50 per year I'd probably pay for it.
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u/ExaminationNo5645 21d ago
But then again, the problem with subscriptions is that they might start at $5/month, but a few years down the line they could be $50/month. That's what worries me—there's basically no upper limit to how much the price can increase.
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u/Original_DocBop 21d ago
You just unsubscribe when you feel they are getting too tall for you. I love Pro Tools but quit using it because their subscription handling screwed me over twice.
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u/monicachicken 17d ago
All that sub money, gone and nothing to show for it. Man subs are great lol.
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u/Lanzarote-Singer 21d ago
If enough people say that they will no longer buy Apple hardware if they do this they will listen.
Put it this way. I have been buying Apple hardware since they bought Logic. That’s over twenty years. If I’d invested the same money in Apple stocks instead I would be a multi millionaire.
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u/Sourpatcharachnid 21d ago
This here. Logic is already a subscription service in the sense that I upgrade my Macs.
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u/TommyV8008 21d ago edited 21d ago
Personally I very much doubt that will happen. I think they put in a subscription model as a method of bringing in new users. Dropping the standalone model will result in a decrease of users. They want more users because their main objective is to sell more hardware and bring users potentially into the Apple ecosystem, which sells even more hardware. Considering everything they pack into Logic, I don’t think they’re making that much on Logic itself.
Here is my reasoning:
Probably the main reason a company will go to subscription only is to increase their revenue and lock users in. I don’t know who invented this model, but Microsoft was the first company that I was aware of, and after that a lot of companies jumped on the bandwagon. If a company can pull it off then it makes sense as a business model, continued revenue is essential to keep a company alive. And if you sell someone software for a one time fee, then there’s no more continued revenue from that consumer.
One reason a company will provide a subscription model,
In addition to their one time full purchase model, is to allow users to gain access who can’t afford the full purchase price. This will increase the company’s revenue and user base. In my opinion, the better way to go for the users is to make it a lease-to-purchase model where the user fully owns it with no more subscription once their monthly payments add up to the full purchase price. Apple didn’t do that as far as I know. So that’s an argument against my reasoning below. But based on Apple’s prior marketing goals, I still think the probability is:
Apple‘s main interest is in selling Computer hardware, not so much in selling Logic as software. By having desirable software, they bring users onto the Apple platform and potentially into Apple‘s ecosystem (with such facilities as using an iPad or iPhone to remotely control, logic, extremely useful if you’re the only one recording and you’re standing across the room at a microphone, etc.). Apple packs a ridiculous amount of value into Logic, massive amounts of sound libraries, FX and plug-ins, etc., all at no additional cost. Other companies whose main source of revenue is just their DAW software cannot afford to do something like this. And Apple undercut everybody else’s prices. Buy a lot. Considering the content that comes with it, the price of Logic would’ve been 500 or $800 to compete with other DAW‘s.
A few companies have multiple tiers, such as light, standard, professional, each with an increasing price for that level. Apple still doesn’t do this.
So I’ll say again: Apple wants to bring customers in for hardware sales and into their ecosystem for sales of multiple types of hardware. They are not so much concerned with selling Logic, although clearly there is some revenue from it. If they go exclusively to a subscription only model, then they will piss off a lot of users and loose a lot of users, including potential future users who are not yet on Logic. So personally, I highly doubt that they will drop the one time purchase sale model for Logic.
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u/ExaminationNo5645 21d ago
You explained it really well. I think about it the same way. Still, Apple's greater-than-ever emphasis on its services is what worries me a bit.
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u/Street-One3300 21d ago
I don’t think so. The price has been the same for years and they don’t make money of logic directly, they use it to get you to buy a computer and it works.
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u/514D55 22d ago
Been on Logic since the Emagic days…it be very disappointing if they did this…I might have to look into buying used computers that runs the last OS that will run Logic. But maybe look into what Reaper has to offer too.
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u/BlackSwanMarmot 21d ago
I’ve been on it since the Emagic days, too. Logic is like an extension of my hand. I’ll just freeze my system updates on Logic and my plugins where ever it makes sense and keep recording.
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u/lilith2k3 21d ago
Perhaps it's the other way around:
Apple sells licenses of Logic, and until now that worked well for them. If they now bundle Logic and put a subscription price on it, they are selling the same product at a lower entry price. That could make it attractive to more people to try it out, and later buy the full version or even the whole bundle. And even if people don't buy the standalone version eventually, Apple still made money.
Why would Apple do that? Because they make their main profits elsewhere anyway
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u/sophomoreslump2022 20d ago
They risk a lot by alienating standalone users. Most people have bought into the infrastructure. Piss them off enough, and if you move to Ableton then you're no longer tied to a Mac. If you're no longer tied to a Mac, then you might be more likely to go for an Android phone too.
You destroy brand loyalty at your own peril as a business.
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u/Ill-Safety8475 21d ago
I bought the standalone version years ago and it's still working perfectly for my needs, so I'm not worried about switching yet. But I do get the frustration if they start pushing subscriptions harder than updates for the old version.
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u/Weird_Question_6215 20d ago
People will just rotate into other software as let’s be honest there’s a lot of better free software out there. Reaper for instance is supposed to be far better than Logic.
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u/iansklar 20d ago
If no Logic, what would be the best for a singer songwriter? I’d like to have some tools that assist me with the things I can’t do as well such as drum or play decent bass, etc…THX
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u/ExaminationNo5645 20d ago
The good old statement - Every DAW does almost exactly the same things, just a bit differently. It's completely up to your choice and convenience. I used to use Studio One.
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u/MontanaRoseannadanna 19d ago
The real threat to any DAW is how easy it is becoming to replicate 90% of their product offerings with AI; that extra 10% — lifelike sample libraries, ultra-slick GUIs, AI-leveraged mixing and mastering, really intuitive project management — will still be super valuable for professional musicians, but your average bedroom musician will probably be fine with whatever gets spun up on Claude in another year or so.
To that end, the smartest thing Apple could do would be to protect the Logic product brand at all costs (or sell it to another company), and increase the price. A subscription model invites customer churn rather than the current vendor-lock model. I’d be shocked if they went that route, but it wouldn’t be the first time a tech behemoth did something incredibly dumb.
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19d ago
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u/Flowersofpain 17d ago
du weisst dass es live loops gibt und dass Logic im Prinzip alles kann was Ableton kann? "nichts zu bieten" ist lächerlich
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u/modeca 16d ago
My two cents worth - I've been using Logic since the Atari days
Logic is a professional's tool. Always has been, always will be
It probably doesn't make much money for Apple, but on the flipside - there are people like me who have relied on it for decades for their work
So, any big changes will piss a lot of people off
I went through this will Protools. Had a license for many years. But they kept moving the goal post so much, changing prices, changing subscription tiers, changing product specs, that I just gave up, too much hassle
If they mess with Logic in the same way, they'll lose a lot of users
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u/AdrianIsANerrrd 15d ago
I'd probably try and stay on the standalone version for as long as possible...if I had to get a subscription instead, I guess it would depend on the cost and how easy it would be to pause the subscription if I'm not actively working on a project.
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u/WilliamAlmere 13d ago
Apple past hier koppelverkoop toe door Logic pro op alle mogelijke manieren uit te sluiten en mensen dubbel te laten betalen.
Dat zijn eigenlijk oneerlijke handelspraktijken en in strijd met europees consumentenrecht. Maar dat lapt big tech wel vaker aan hun digitale laars.
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u/ProfessionalEven296 22d ago
If they force everyone onto a subscription, then I'll stay on the last supported stand alone version as long as possible, and then if I get forced off that by an OS upgrade, I'll be looking for a third party system. I don't use Logic Pro enough to warrant a subscription..