Apple finally figured out how to bring its professional apps, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, to the iPad. With the introduction of Apple silicon, the Mac took Apple’s focus away from the iPad. Developing these iPad apps shows Apple’s commitment to the tablet device.

Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad

Check out my feature about Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad over at MakeUseOf. Apple has brought its professional apps to the iPad with most features intact while designing the apps for the touch interface.

Final Cut Pro’s Magnetic Timeline still allows you to clip, edit, and stick videos together. Color grades and HDR videos also show up. Logic Pro offers many of the same aspects as its Mac cousin, with a touch focus.

Built For iPad

These aren’t just ports of these apps but thoughtful rebuilds. Once the apps release, we’ll get a complete look at them, but they offer many of the features of the desktop apps. But the exciting part for me is the stuff that Apple has designed with the iPad in mind.

The Jog Wheel

I’ve used LumaFusion for a long time. I prefer to edit on my iPad to my Mac because I like dragging sliders and clips around the screen with my fingers instead of a mouse.
Apple thought through the process and added UI controls like the jog wheel. The jog wheel lets you scroll through timelines, clips, and more, which should bring a level of control that just using your fingers won’t. I will have to wait to see this in action to give honest feedback, but I like this thinking.

AI Partners

I’m very wary of how ChatGPT and Microsoft have pushed AI in your face, but Apple has been very systematic about machine learning. Here, machine learning will help get rid of backgrounds or suggest the perfect frame for you to use. As we get our hands on it, these apps will have even more machine learning and AI elements to help us. So while we head to the Skynet future, features like this speed up the creative process, and I’m here for that.

Inventive Instruments

In Logic Pro, Apple has brought over the touchscreen instruments from GarageBand. Playing the instruments in GarageBand was always fun, and I know that Logic has a massive database of musical beats. Producers can experiment on the go with digital instruments now. Using real instruments beats digital ones, but those are only sometimes an option.

Interesting Specs for Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro

Final Cut Pro will only run on an iPad with an M1 processor or better. The cheapest iPad that can run it will be the iPad Air. I suspect that requirement might be related to machine learning and the heavy nature of video processing.

What Does This Mean for the iPad?

I love that these apps have come to the iPad. I’ve been clamoring for them for years. I’m not a music producer, and I do less video editing these days, but Apple bringing these to the iPad reassures me about the tablet’s future.
With the release of Apple silicon, the Mac line burst into the forefront of users’ minds. Yes, the iPad also gained the same chips as the MacBook, but the design of the iPad hadn’t changed. Even with the release of the latest M2 iPad Pro, things felt stale.

But Apple has made the iPad more powerful lately. While there hasn’t been a new surprising feature, and only the larger iPad Pro has the micro-led display, Apple has tried to do things on the software side. While many felt that Stage Manager felt broken when it launched, it still brought a new multitasking paradigm to iPadOS. This shows me that Apple still cares about the device.

The Future

These apps and Stage Manager might not be for every user, but they mean something to me. Apple is still committed to the iPad. If they progress, the iPad could become my primary device again.
What do you think? Leave a comment to let me know if these apps mean anything to you or if there’s something else still missing from the iPad.