Apple has announced that it’s launching its professional creative editing apps — Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro — on the iPad for the first time. Starting 23 May, both apps will each be available on the App Store for S$6.98 per month or S$69 per year, with a one-month free trial period.
Along with this move, the two apps have been optimised for multi-touch and Apple Pencil support. For example, Final Cut Pro has introduced a jog wheel, similar to a physical video controller, to aid in quick navigation and editing. Additionally, touch inputs are available to facilitate clip reordering and editing. With an Apple Pencil, users can draw directly on their content and hover over the timeline to preview footage. Most importantly, creators can capture, edit, and publish from a single device while in the field, and on iPad Pro with M2, users can even record in ProRes.
Meanwhile, Logic Pro maximises touch to enable users to perform directly on the iPad. Moreover, there’s a new sound browser to find patches, samples, and other content in one place, as well as new tools for manipulating samples, crafting beats, and more.
An iPad will require at least an A12 Bionic chip to run Logic Pro. This includes the 8th-generation iPad, the 3rd-generation iPad Air, the 5th-generation iPad mini, and newer models. However, Final Cut Pro has more stringent requirements and will only work on iPad Pro or Air with an M1 or M2 chip.
The iPad versions of both apps offer some level of cross-platform compatibility with their macOS counterparts, but there are still some barriers. While Logic Pro projects can be opened and edited across both platforms, Final Cut Pro projects can only be exported from the iPad to the Mac version.
That said, importing projects from the iOS versions of iMovie or GarageBand into Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro for the iPad is possible, enabling users to continue working on their projects with more advanced tools.