Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro Push the M4 iPad Pro to New Heights
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One of the few genuine surprises at yesterday’s Let Loose event was Apple’s unveiling of “huge updates” to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro designed to take even more advantage of the powerful chips and other capabilities of Apple’s new iPads.
Apple introduced the long-awaited iPadOS versions of these two pro apps last year, but those initial versions were mostly about optimizing for the iPad experience with features and controls designed for the touchscreen and Apple Pencil. This year, Apple is releasing two updates that are much more focused on showing off what the new iPads can do — especially the M4 iPad Pro, which, for now at least, has the most advanced Apple silicon available in any device.
What’s New in Final Cut Pro for iPad
Under the hood, Final Cut Pro has been optimized to fully take advantage of the M4 chip. Apple’s Creative Apps Product Manager Will Hui noted that final rendering speeds are now 2X faster than on the M1 chip.
However, the coolest new feature in Final Cut Pro is “Live MultiCam,” which turns the iPad Pro into a video recording and switching console for capturing up to four live cameras running on iPhones.
Live MultiCam enables filmmakers to connect and preview up to four cameras all at once, all in one place. Creators can remotely direct each video angle and dial in exposure, white balance, focus, and more.Will Hui, Apple’s Manager of Creative Apps
For the iPhones on the other end of the MultiCam feature, Apple created a new Final Cut Camera app. This lets iPhones and other iPads connect to Final Cut Pro running on the director’s iPad, but can also be used as a standalone professional video recording app that offers more advanced and precise manual controls than Apple’s standard Camera app.
Each Live MultiCam angle is streamed and time-synced into Final Cut Pro, allowing the director to transition between them live while storing each as a separate clip for later editing in post-production.
Video editors can now work on a project directly from an external hard drive, although that will work best for complex projects with the iPad Pro and its Thunderbolt port.
The M4 iPad Pro can also handle four times more streams of ProRes RAW footage than the M1 chip and do HDR color grading significantly faster.
Final Cut Pro 2 transforms iPad Pro into a more powerful production studio and opens up entirely new video workflows. Will Hui
Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Camera are coming “later this spring.” Final Cut Pro will be a free update for existing users under the same subscription plan. Final Cut Camera will be a free standalone app. Apple will also release a Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8 update with new Enhance Light and Color and Smooth Slo-Mo features.
What’s New in Logic Pro 2 for iPad
On the audio production side, Logic Pro for iPad provides an entire studio recording and mixing experience in a touchscreen interface.
Logic Pro 2 adds more session players to join the drummer with all-new bass and keyboard players built using AI to let folks dial in the perfect performance to accompany vocals and other instrumental tracks.
A new ChromaGlow plug-in uses machine learning to model and infuse digital recordings with more analog-style warmth, eliminating the need for dedicated hardware to get richer and more detailed sound.
Finally, Logic Pro 2 takes AI to new heights with Stem Splitter, which can split a mixed track into individual instrumental and vocal tracks so it’s ready for remixing.
When a producer wants to sample just drums or only vocals but doesn’t have the original tracks or stems, Logic Pro provides a great solution. We call it “Stem Splitter.” It takes any recording and quickly extracts four distinct parts for voice, bass, drums, and other instruments. Will Hui
Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Logic Pro for Mac 11 will be available on the App Store on Monday, May 13. They’re both free updates for existing users, although Logic Pro for iPad 2 will continue under the same subscription plan as its predecessor, with a one-month free trial after which it costs $4.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly.
