Apple ships Final Cut Pro for Mac, iPad – and iPhone
Apple has introduced Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8. It has also published Final Cut Camera for iPhone, which turns your smartphone(s) and iPad(s) into a powerful networked camera to capture video.
The products were announced alongside the introduction of the iPad Pro with an M4 chip in May 2024. At that time Apple said the software would ship in late spring, which it has just about achieved.
Final Cut Pro for iPad 2
Among its benefits, the new FCP promises 2x faster rendering and support for up to 4x more streams of ProRes RAW than it did on the previous M1 iPad Pro.
The new Live Multicam feature lets users can wirelessly connect and preview up to four cameras at once, all in one place, including iPhones and iPads equipped with Final Cut Camera.
Live Multicam delivers what Apple calls a “director’s view” of each camera and manual control of their preferences. The app also now supports external projects, a top-requested feature which means users can create new projects or open an existing project without taking up internal storage space. It also supports Apple Pencil Pro.
Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8
This edition exploits the Neural Engine in Apple Silicon. That means new AI features including, Enhance Light and Color, and Smooth Slo-Mo. Enhance Light and Color automatically adjusts video for color correction, while Smooth Slo-Mo intelligently blends video frames for the highest-quality movement.
Additional organizing tools should boost post-production workflows. These include custom names for color corrections and video effects in the inspector; the ability to search for and navigate to clips with missing media or effects in the Timeline index; and text-based timeline search with information like reel, scene, camera angle, and more.
Final Cut Camera
For iPad and iPhone, Final Cut Camera powers Live Multicam and also works as a standalone recording app, with the ability to adjust settings like manual focus, shutter speed, ISO, and more. It turns your Apple products into a complete portable and professional film creation studio, which I actually think rocks.
When can I get it and for how much?
Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 is available on the App Store for $4.99 (U.S.) per month or $49 (U.S.) per year, and Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8 is available on the Mac App Store for $299.99 (U.S.).
Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8 are now available as free updates for existing users.
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