by Dan Moren
Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro come to the iPad at last
Apple today unveiled Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad. Video and music creators can now unleash their creativity in new ways that are only possible on iPad. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad bring all-new touch interfaces that allow users to enhance their workflows with the immediacy and intuitiveness of Multi-Touch.
Over the past several years, Apple has brought more “pro” features to the iPad, including support for trackpads and external displays, but one thing that’s been missing in action is Apple’s own in-house pro apps. Bringing over Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro removes yet another limitation on the platform that may open up the device to new markets.
But adapting these apps has always been a tall order: they’re not only exceptionally powerful, but they’ve never been made with touch interfaces in mind. Apple says it has created a brand new touch interface for Final Cut Pro, including the ability to use the Apple Pencil’s new hover feature on M2 iPad Pros to preview footage. Logic Pro also adds a few new features, such as a new sound browser and a new time and pitch-morphing plugin called Beat Breaker.
It’s not clear whether these apps provide full feature parity with their Mac counterparts, though Logic Pro supports full roundtrip compatibility for projects; Apple says Final Cut Pro, on the other hand, can export its projects to the Mac, though it’s less clear whether that runs in the other direction.
In terms of what devices you’ll be able to run these on, Final Cut Pro has the steeper requirements, needing an M1 chip or later, while Logic Pro just requires an A12 Bionic processor.
These also mark Apple’s first major subscription software venture: each of the pro apps will be available on May 23, running $4.99 per month or $49 per year; they’ll both offer a month-long free trial.