Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,287
30,351


The first reviews of Final Cut Pro for iPad were published today, providing a closer look at the touch-optimized video creation app in action. We also shared our own hands-on video of the app, which is available now on the App Store.

Final-Cut-Pro-iPad-UI.jpg

Final Cut Pro for the iPad is a subscription-based app priced at $4.99 per month or $49 per year in the U.S. after a one-month free trial. The app is compatible with iPads equipped with the M1 chip or newer, and requires iPadOS 16.4 or later.

The Verge's Vjeran Pavic:
Final Cut Pro for iPad is a carefully designed app that gets a lot of the basics right. It's a great adaptation of its desktop app, and FCP users will feel right at home. It also takes advantage of the iPad's touch-first interface and utilizes accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil well. It's also priced accessibly — Apple is selling it as a subscription at $5 per month or $50 per year, which makes it easy to use for a month or two to see if it's something you want to stick with.

But if you're hoping that it's a complete drop-in replacement for the Mac version of Final Cut Pro, you'll likely come away disappointed. There are still many features omitted from this version that I missed throughout my testing of it. And if you're the type of editor who wants to work on both the iPad and the Mac, you're going to need to be careful with how you organize your projects and which device you start out with.
iMore's Daryl Baxter:
If you're a videographer and you've been waiting for Final Cut on iPad, it's been worth the eight-year wait. But it feels like there's already a need for a 1.5 update that's going to line up feature parity on the same level as what Logic Pro for iPad already manages. Swapping between devices with projects and not experiencing any bugs when moving from a Mac to iPad and vice versa is critical.

Final Cut Pro brings out the best in iPad, from its multi-touch focus to the fun features of Live Drawing and the jog wheel. It gives some rare clarity to a confused device category, and buggy software features like Stage Manager that have bogged down the iPad for the past year. And for that alone, it's worth the subscription price.
Six Colors' Jason Snell:
After quite a few hours in Final Cut Pro iPad, my impressions are mixed. There were moments where I really did get into a groove and felt great about the app—generally when I was using the Magic Keyboard since it gave me access to shortcuts that haven't been properly translated into the touch interface.

But I also felt a lot of familiar frustration at an app that's packed with features but hasn't quite realized that multi-touch gestures and the Apple Pencil can make the process go smoother even without an attached keyboard. The pieces are all in place for Final Cut Pro to become a great iPad app, but it's still got a lot of growing up to do.
More Reviews and First Impressions
Videos



... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Final Cut Pro for iPad Reviews: Worth the Wait, But Some Limitations
 

CalMin

Contributor
Nov 8, 2007
1,648
2,798
This is really cool and all, but having used the amazing Lumafusion on and off over the years, I just think that serious video editing needs a bigger screen, mouse and keyboard. I can't see me using it much.

Logic on the other hand REALLY rocks on iPad...
 

CalMin

Contributor
Nov 8, 2007
1,648
2,798
Biggest drawback: Monthly/Yearly Subscription. 🫤

$5/month isn't too offensive for what's on offer. I mean FCP on Mac is $300 (i.e. about 5-years at $5/month). If you're an occasional user then you can dip in/out. If you're a pro, then $5/month is a steal.

There's also Lumafusion, which is superb at $30 forever, and is a pretty good solution if you need to edit video on the go using an iPad.
 
$5/month isn't too offensive for what's on offer. I mean FCP on Mac is $300 (i.e. about 5-years at $5/month). If you're an occasional user then you can dip in/out. If you're a pro, then $5/month is a steal.

There's also Lumafusion, which is superb at $30 forever, and is a pretty good solution if you need to edit video on the go using an iPad.
Valid points! But I rather pay One Time Fee for a photo/video editor and not have to worry about paying monthly or yearly. Apple could have followed the Aperture pricing model.👇

1684887684155.png
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
IMO, best thing about these hitting now is that obviously Apple did not think they could fit into up to 3 hours at WWDC. These certainly SEEM like something "new" that could have been revealed there and probably filled upwards of 20+ minutes with some "ooooh" and "ahhhhhh."

I recall them spending a good chunk of time during the AppleTV portion a few years ago to basically talk about the release of Amazon Prime. These apps seem much BIGGER than yet another streaming service.

What's coming at WWDC that moved Apple to go ahead and let these cats out of the bag only a few days before? (that's somewhat rhetorical, more so expressing anticipation instead of actually asking the question. If we don't know by now, we've been reading rumors wrong). Bring on the goodies! Show us something entirely NEW!
 
Last edited:
IMO, best thing about these hitting now is that obviously Apple did not think these could fit into up to 3 hours at WWDC. These certainly SEEM like something "new" that could be revealed there. I recall them spending a good chunk of time during the AppleTV portion a few years ago to basically talk about the release of Amazon Prime. These seem much BIGGER than another streaming service.

What is coming at WWDC that moved Apple to go ahead and lets these cats out of the bag only a few days before?
It’s the Apple AR/VR headset. That is what is going to take the ⛈️ thunder away from WWDC 2023. That will be the flagship product Apple will be focusing on. Keep in mind Apple has to cover the AR/VR headset software and hardware combined.
 

aloper

macrumors 6502
Nov 23, 2015
454
466
Rocklin, CA
Let’s see, I‘m paying the same $49.99 a month for my Adobe subscription which includes a world class image editor(Photoshop), video editor (Premiere), image editor(Lightroom), and many more…So I’m assuming this is only for people who need to desperately use Final Cut on an iPad…The value proposition price wise seems way of the mark for what your getting in return…
 

loopy123

macrumors member
Aug 9, 2018
49
57
Let’s see, I‘m paying the same $49.99 a month for my Adobe subscription which includes a world class image editor(Photoshop), video editor (Premiere), image editor(Lightroom), and many more…So I’m assuming this is only for people who need to desperately use Final Cut on an iPad…The value proposition price wise seems way of the mark for what your getting in return…
Its $5 per month
 

Stehsegler9

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2021
35
35
for professional workflows it needs the following to at least all you to start an edit and continue on desktop without putting unnecessary work in.

Improved Media Browser / Project Media Browser. It needs:
- support for Event so I it's easy
- betters support for multi selects in source clips

Support for external media on SSDs

Plugin support

Support for compound clips

Roundtrip editing

Adjustment layers


Having to export the library for import to FCPX on Mac rather than being able to open the library from an external drive causes all sort of workflow problems on bigger projects.

As for the subscription, my biggest dislike of subscriptions is when a piece of software is discontinued. I still have some older Macs floating around with software that no longer is sold only because it does that one function I need from time to time.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: StoneJack

redbeard331

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2009
2,581
4,692
IMO, best thing about these hitting now is that obviously Apple did not think they could fit into up to 3 hours at WWDC. These certainly SEEM like something "new" that could have been revealed there and probably filled upwards of 20+ minutes with some "ooooh" and "ahhhhhh."

I recall them spending a good chunk of time during the AppleTV portion a few years ago to basically talk about the release of Amazon Prime. These apps seem much BIGGER than yet another streaming service.

What's coming at WWDC that moved Apple to go ahead and let these cats out of the bag only a few days before? (that's somewhat rhetorical, more so expressing anticipation instead of actually asking the question. If we don't know by now, we've been reading rumors wrong). Bring on the goodies! Show us something entirely NEW!

I agree, they also released the accessibility changes coming to iOS 17 early. I’m hoping this means iOS 17 is going to huge, and for the new thing, I’m guessing it’ll be the Apple Car. They will zoom in from a satellite down to the roof of the parking garage outside the spaceship where Tim will be doing donuts, but he won’t have his hands on the wheel, the car will be driving itself. He’ll be shown giggling like a little kid as he installs a theme pack from the AppStore, exclusive to iOS 17.
 

MacFan782040

macrumors 65816
Dec 1, 2003
1,014
671
Can you edit vertical videos on it? Why is the UI designed for 16x9? The entire internet/social media is vertical or square video, and that’s presumably what most people will be using this for. Anybody doing 16x9 video will just use a Mac. Why would they do that??
 

JCCL

macrumors 68000
Apr 3, 2010
1,911
4,283
I agree with you, but that's *old* Apple pricing. Tim Cook's Apple is far more aggressive with money-grubbing.
Unfortunately, it isn't just Tim Cook, but the whole industry is moving towards a Software as a service model - keep that steady revenue flowing. Perpetual license seems to more and more become a think of the past (only prevails in AAA gaming, let's see for how long)
 

Minxy

macrumors 6502
Nov 17, 2012
339
419
Surprise surprise. Apple's bubbly PR spokeswoman iJustine is gushing over an Apple product....
I’ve come to completely disregard the ’reviews’ of many content creators precisely because they’ve allowed themselves to become part of Apple’s PR machine, meaning all the viewer gets its hype and no critical evaluation of substance.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.