Apple finally brings Final Cut Pro to the iPad, but you’ll need at least an M1 chip

After years of talking up the iPad as a computer replacement and touting the performance advantage of the M1 and M2 models, Apple has finally done the logical move—bringing its top-tier Final Cut Pro software to its tablet. The video editing app will drop on the App Store on May 24, alongside its audio production twin, Logic Pro.

Both have been overhauled for the new form factor with “all-new” touch interface, incorporating multi-touch gestures to let users more intuitively navigate their projects. Final Cut Pro also gets a jog wheel that allows for finer control of the playhead and other adjustments. As for Logic Pro, you now have Plug-in Tiles that are said to put the most useful controls at your fingertips.

You’ll also be able to interact with both apps in new ways using the Apple Pencil, such as drawing and writing directly on video content on Final Cut Pro, as well as drawing detailed track automation on Logic Pro. You can also attach a Magic Keyboard or Smart Keyboard Folio and use key commands for even speedier editing.

One neat side effect of bringing Final Cut Pro to the iPad is the ability to shoot videos (including ProRes videos on the iPad Pro) using the cameras and import them directly into the project—enabling users to record, edit, export and share videos through a single app. It will also let you automatically synchronise clips from multiple cameras and edit them together, and you can even switch angles in a multicam clip with a single tap.

Final Cut Pro also leverages on Apple silicon’s machine learning abilities, adding a Scene Removal Mask to quickly remove or replace a background without needing a green screen, along with an Auto Crop feature that adjusts footage for vertical, horizontal or square aspect ratios. You can also remove background noise using Voice Isolation.

Moving over to Logic Pro, you now have a sound browser that displays all available instrument patches, audio patches, plug‑in presets, samples, and loops in a single location, and you can tap on each sound to preview it before loading it into a project. The app also features over 100 instruments and effects plug-ins, with users being able to play said instruments using multi-touch. A new sample manipulation instrument called Sample Alchemy has also been added.

Elsewhere, Logic Pro features a new Beat Breaker plug-in that will let you morph the time and pitch of a sound, along with a Quick Sampler that can make new instruments out of audio samples. Other features include a Step Sequencer for programming drum patterns, bass lines and melodies, a Drum Machine Designer for applying samples and plug-ins to a drum pad, and Live Loops for building arrangements.

Users also get access to a full mixer with channel strips, volume faders, pan controls, plug-ins, sends and precise automation, again compatible with multi-touch gestures. Soundtracks can be exported directly to Final Cut Pro on the iPad.

Excited to use Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on your iPad? There’s a catch—Final Cut Pro is only available on models powered by M-series chips, including the iPad Air and iPad Pro M1 and the latest iPad Pro M2. Logic Pro is less strict, requiring only the A12 Bionic chip or newer, meaning that anything later than the eighth-generation iPad, fifth-generation iPad Mini, third-generation iPad Air and third-generation iPad Pro will do.