Apple launches Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on iPad, finally bringing professional apps to tablets

Company has long faced questions over its plans for its high-powered iPads

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Apple will bring Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro to the iPad, answering questions about the future of its high-powered tablets.

The professional video and music editing apps have been remade for Apple’s tablets, with new touch interfaces and additional features added from the Mac counterpart.

Apple has been making the iPad Pro for years, with the first released in 2015. Recent models have brought them in line with Apple’s laptops, using the same chips for faster performance.

But at the same time, Apple has been relatively slow in adding professional apps to the platform that can make use of that computing capability. That had led some to wonder whether Apple was truly committed to its iPads being a professional platform.

Now Apple has put its two main professional and creative apps onto the platform, and they will arrive later this month.

“We’re excited to introduce Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad, allowing creators to unleash their creativity in new ways and in even more places,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a statement. “With a powerful set of intuitive tools designed for the portability, performance, and touch-first interface of iPad, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro deliver the ultimate mobile studio.”

The new versions of the app are largely similar to their Mac counterparts. They include the same basic design and similar functionality.

The updates do however add some tools within the iPad version, such as a new sound browser in Logic Pro. And they also include new options that are built specifically for the tablet, such as support for the Apple Pencil.

Customers will have to pay for the iPad versions of the app separately, even if they own the desktop one, with each app costing £4.99 per month or £49 per year. Final Cut Pro requires an M1 chip or later, and Logic Pro needs an A12 chip or later, and the apps must be updated to the latest operating system.

Both of the apps will be available from 23 May.

Apple’s announcement is unusual in that it comes just a month before its big software event, the Worldwide Developers Conference, which is held at the beginning of June. Apple usually announces new updates to its own apps at that event.