I doubt that Apple would go that direction. Of course that could change. The reason behind my thinking id that Apple sells hardware as dows Blackmagic so there should be no reason for Final Cut to go subscription only. Most of the profits are linked to hardware rather then software. This is how Blackmagic can afford to offer low cost software. Besides there is the hardware support. In the event Apple does go subscription only I might jump over to Resolve for nearly all my post production needs depending on the subscription model.
Adobe had to go subscription only due to many factors. The big one (at least for me) was many people were not upgrading every product cycle. The other reasons because of Sox in addition to the fact Adobe does not sell hardware. Could we see Adobe offering their subscription plan in the App Store at some point? Perhaps other third party apps could be offered there as well. That would make keeping up with subscriptions much easier and probably help other developers reach a wider audience. We have to wait and see.
While this looks nice there is always that one thing we don’t know about.
Tim, looking to your thoughts. I know something is on the stove cooking. 🙂