So, here I am a Komplete 12 user and we've the 50 per cent discount on Komplete 13 about to expire at the end of this month and I'm wondering: is there any point in upgrading?
The issue for me is the lack of clarity around support for Apple Silicon computers (aka. M1/M2 chips). Yes, there is Rosetta 2, but that code translation utility is for convenience during this Intel-to-Apple Silicon platform transition period. Rosetta 2 has performance overheads and shouldn't be regarded as an enduring solution. And it will be gone in a fews years, as was the case with the original Rosetta.
I am trying to plan ahead as I look to buy an Apple Silicon Mac and yet I've no idea if there will be support for some of the classic instruments in Komplete, which haven't been updated in years. For example, will Absynth and FM8 go the same way as Pro-53? And if that were to happen, then maybe it's time to stop investing in Native Instruments and consider alternatives.
Look at it this way, if you go to the Arturia site, it provides information for its various products regarding what's supported and what's being phased out, but Native Instruments just keeps you in the dark. And to be clear, I don't own a single product by Arturia, however, when it comes to planning system upgrades and what software instruments will be supported, this transparency makes everything easier.
It seems like the only thing to do is skip the Komplete 13 upgrade offer and wait for Komplete 14, which could even become subscription-only: Komplete Now Pro, anyone? Let's hope not. Still, as there's no compatibility roadmap, it makes planning impossible. I'm not asking for NI to give away what's coming next in terms of new products bundles, but clarity on existing products and a timeline for native Apple Silicon support would be good manners, in my view.
And talking of manners, if the company wants its users to stay loyal, how about rewarding existing Komplete users with a unique discount code in Native Access so they can buy Kontrol hardware without paying for the bundled software all over again? To me, it's like you've gone to a shop and bought a jacket and some time later you go back to the shop for some trousers and you're told you can only have the trousers if you buy the jacket again. This isn't the way you cultivate customer loyalty. It suggests the company is perhaps greedy, desperate or daft – perhaps all three. I'm sure Native Instruments can do better than this, but will it?
