Apple releases huge updates for music apps GarageBand and Logic Pro X

The update lets the apps work better with the Mac, and lets the Mac work better with everything else

A staff member tries out the GarageBand application on the new iPad 2 at the Apple store in central London, on March 25, 2011 (CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images)

Apple has released huge updates to its music apps, helping them work better together and with the company’s new hardware.

Both GarageBand and Logic Pro X – respectively the consumer and pro versions of Apple’s music creation tools – have received major updates. The versions for the iPhone, iPad and Mac have all got updates, which allow the three to work together better.

Chief among the updates is that both apps will now support the new Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro. Apple has now updated almost all of its apps to make use of the small touch screen, and in the music app it provides new buttons – which allow it to be used like a piano or a drum kit – all of which can be customised.

In GarageBand, Apple has added a new synthesiser that has long been in the Logic Pro software. That is called Alchemy and comes with a range of different presets that can be played using the iPhone or iPad’s screen.

It also adds more complex ways of recording, like letting people do multiple takes and add effects and changes to their voice after it has been done.

But perhaps the biggest updates are those that allow GarageBand and Logic – and iOS and MacOS – to work together better.

Logic users can add tracks to their Logic projects on their iPhone, and have them ready when they get back to their Mac, for instance. And projects can be shared between GarageBand and Logic and put in iCloud, meaning that people making music can record and edit it from whatever device they are on.

“Music has always been part of Apple’s DNA, and we are excited to deliver yet another fun and powerful update to our music creation apps, GarageBand for iOS and Logic Pro X,” Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of applications product marketing, said in a statement. “These updates bring a wide range of new and highly requested features to both hobbyists and the community of pro musicians and audio engineers who rely on our software and hardware to create amazing music.”

The updates can be downloaded through the Mac or iOS App Store or for free. GarageBand is free to anyone with a Mac, and Logic Pro X can be bought the same way.