Apple today announced new versions of its Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro media editing software for iPad, after decades of only being available on Mac.
The company, unsurprisingly, didn’t choose to elaborate on why, after all these years, this is the precise moment when both products suddenly come into their own on the iPad. But its press release talked about the benefits of the tablet platform. In the case of Final Cut Pro, the obvious answer is that unlike a MacBook, a single iPad can both record and edit high-quality footage and is therefore a more convenient workstation when recording on the go. .
Of course, some changes were needed to adapt the software to its new home. Final Cut Pro has a touch interface, including a new jog wheel, while Logic Pro now has features based on multi-touch gestures: we can see it working well when playing digital instruments, for example. The software also offers new features using the Apple Pencil, such as the ability to draw directly on video or (assuming you have an iPad Pro M2) to hover and preview without touching the screen.
And perhaps more importantly, neither app is available for direct purchase. To use it, you have to pay a monthly or annual fee. While Apple offers subscriptions for its Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade and other services, and it looks like it’s considering a hardware subscription service for its devices, this is the first time it uses a subscription model for software.
As is always the case with a major change, Apple seems aware of the need to support multiple platforms. The company says it’s easy to transfer projects between iPad and Mac versions of Logic Pro thanks to round-trip capabilities, while the iPad edition can open projects created in GarageBand for iOS. Final Cut Pro for iPad, in turn, can import projects created in iMovie for iOS.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad, enabling creators to unleash their creativity in new ways and in even more places,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of worldwide product marketing.
Both products will be available on the App Store starting Tuesday, May 23. They will be sold by subscription, each costing $4.99/£4.99 a month or $49/£49 for a year; you can try the apps for free for a month. Both require iPadOS 16.4 or later, but their hardware requirements are slightly different: Logic Pro is available on any iPad with an A12 Bionic chip or higher (which includes the 5th generation iPad mini from 2019 and the 8th generation iPad from 2020), but Final Cut Pro requires an M1 chip or higher. That means an iPad Pro from the last two years or the latest iPad Air.
