A welcome screen discovered in the iOS 7 beta suggests that Apple's iWork and iLife iOS applications may be available for free when the OS launches this fall, according to German site ifun [Google Translate].
The download screen is similar to this one that was discovered in the iOS 6 beta last year. It encourages customers to download free Apple apps to "get the most out of your iPhone."
iPhoto and iMovie are available on the App Store for $4.99 each, while Pages, Numbers and Keynote are $9.99. GarageBand is missing from the screen, but there is no reason to think it would not go free as well.
The launch of iWork for iCloud at WWDC in June suggested that iWork could become free, as no pricing was mentioned at the show. Offering Apple's polished iWork and iLife applications for free -- much like iLife apps have always been free with the purchase of a new Mac -- would be a strong differentiator for the iPhone and iPad.
Top Rated Comments
If they are going to have the web apps, that are included with iCloud free, like MS SkyDrive and GoogleDrive, it would be silly if they weren't accessible on mobile.
Also a huge boon to education systems which are pushing iPads to students.