The free apps are iMovie, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and GarageBand, and each can be downloaded now from the Mac and iOS App Stores.
It’s worth noting that the software has been available for free to anyone who purchased a Mac computer or iOS mobile device after August 2013. Therefore, the move to stop charging for it will particularly benefit anyone with an older piece of Apple kit who never purchased the software, which used to cost between $5 and $20 apiece.
Of course, if you’re a Mac and/or iOS user without any of these apps, you’ve probably been using alternatives for a while. But if you’re unhappy with any of them, now’s surely the time to try out Apple’s software.
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, which used to cost $20 each, are Apple’s word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation offerings, respectively. GarageBand, meanwhile, is a music creation software aimed at musicians or even non-musicians who fancy tinkering about in their own digital studio.
However, with so many folks whipping out their smartphones to shoot video these days, it’s iMovie that may prove to be of most interest. Powerful though not so complex to befuddle everyday users, Apple’s consumer-level video editing software lets you select from your library of clips before adding studio-quality titles, music, and special effects. A fun feature is the ability to quickly create Hollywood-style movie trailers from a bunch of short sequences and images, with the software doing the brunt of the work, often to great effect.
And like all of Apple’s software, iMovie lets you work on the same project across multiple devices, so you can begin a project on your iPhone and continue with it on your iPad, “then take advantage of additional features on your Mac to add finishing touches like color correction, green-screen effects, and animated maps.”
If you own an older Apple device and never felt compelled to purchase any of the company’s software, now’s the time to take a closer look. You’ll find all of the offerings in Apple’s Mac and iOS App Stores.
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