The iPad, with its blend of portability and power, is increasingly becoming a viable platform for professional-grade applications. One of the primary advantages of the iPad is its portability. It’s significantly lighter and more compact than most laptops, making it an ideal device for professionals on the move. With Pro apps on your iPad, you can work on complex tasks such as video editing, music production, or graphic design from virtually anywhere – be it a coffee shop, an airport lounge, or a park.
Modern iPads, particularly the iPad Pro models, are equipped with advanced chipsets that deliver impressive processing power. This means they can handle resource-intensive tasks that were previously exclusive to desktops or high-end laptops. The iPad’s touchscreen interface, combined with the precision of the Apple Pencil, offers a unique and intuitive user experience. This can be particularly beneficial for creative professionals. For instance, graphic designers can draw directly on the screen with the Apple Pencil, providing a level of control and immediacy that’s hard to replicate with a mouse or trackpad.
Final Cut Pro: What You Need To Know
Final Cut Pro is a professional video editing software developed by Apple and is part of the Pro Apps family of software programs that Apple creates for the professional design market, including Logic Pro, a music recording and audio production software, and Motion, a powerful motion graphics companion to Final Cut Pro.
Final Cut Pro provides non-linear, non-destructive editing of any QuickTime-compatible video format. It supports a number of simultaneously composited video tracks, up to 99 audio tracks, multi-camera editing for combining video from multiple camera sources, as well as standard ripple, roll, slip, slide, scrub, razor blade and time remapping edit functions.
Thanks to the surprise announcement that came in May, both of these apps are now available on the iPad. For the most part, it seems as though both Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro offer the same number of features between the Mac and iPad version. However, there are some limitations to be aware of if you want to use Final Cut Pro on iPad. Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know when it comes to Final Cut Pro:
Final Cut Pro Requirements
iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch) with M1 and M2 processors
iPad Air (5th Generation)
iPadOS 16.4 or newer
$4.99 per month or $49 per year (includes one-month free trial)
Final Cut Pro Features
Editing surface: Make frame‑accurate edits with just your finger. Use the lightning-fast jog wheel to scrub through footage or trim and nudge clips. And skim footage quickly and precisely with Apple Pencil hover.
Live Drawing:Â Draw, highlight, and write directly on footage with touch or Apple Pencil to create unique handwritten titles and illustrations.
HDR: View and edit stunning visuals with an HDR‑first workflow that comes to life on the Liquid Retina XDR display on the 12.9‑inch iPad Pro.
iMovie import:Â Open your iMovie for iOS projects in Final Cut Pro to unlock all of its advanced features to finish your work.
Apple Pencil and keyboard:Â Make precise edits using Apple Pencil. Speed up your workflows by adding a Magic Keyboard or Smart Keyboard Folio for powerful key commands.
Scene Removal Mask:Â Instantly isolate a subject and remove it from its background with just a tap, without using a green screen or rotoscoping.
Auto Crop:Â Intelligently adjust footage for vertical, square, and other aspect ratios so you can deliver your videos to multiple destinations with ease.
Voice Isolation:Â Eliminate background noise and improve the clarity of speech so your edit sounds its best.
Dynamic titles:Â Customize themed titles, lower thirds, and bumpers to enhance your project.
Effects:Â Easily apply video effects like beautiful color grading presets to achieve the perfect look. Or add effects to voices and other audio to give your project just the right sound.
Music:Â Add a professional soundtrack that intelligently adjusts to the length of your video.
Backgrounds:Â Enhance your video with a selection of vibrant dynamic backgrounds and animated patterns.
Manual controls:Â Compose your shot with control over white balance, exposure, and focus in portrait or landscape orientation.
Monitor:Â See available recording time and audio levels, including for external microphones. Turn on overexposure indicators and grid lines to ensure your video looks perfect in the moment.
ProRes:Â Capture in the highest-quality formats, including ProRes on the latest iPad Pro, to get amazing real-time performance for tasks like multistream editing.
Save:Â Save your footage directly into your project so you can review your shots quickly, eliminating an extra import step.
There is one feature that is not yet available for Final Cut Pro for iPad, and that’s the ability to use third-party content. However, Apple states this functionality is “coming soon” but didn’t provide a specific timeline for when this will arrive.
As for Logic Pro, this is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application produced by Apple, and has been limited to working on macOS. Originally created by German software developer Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic in 2002.
Logic Pro is used by professionals in the music industry to compose, record, edit, and mix music. It provides software instruments, audio effects, and recording facilities for music synthesis. It also supports Apple Loops – professionally prerecorded loop files that users can use in their projects.
The software features a vast collection of software instruments, including synthesizers, drum machines, and sample-based instruments, as well as a large library of effects processors. Logic Pro also includes advanced features for manipulating MIDI data, and it can handle high track counts and large orchestral arrangements.
Logic Pro Requirements
iPad Pro 11-inch and 12.9-inch, 3rd generation or newer
iPad Air 3rd generation and newer
iPad 7th generation and newer
iPad mini 5th Generation and newer
iPadOS 16.4 or newer
$4.99 per month or $49 per year (includes one-month free trial)
Logic Pro Features
Touch to play:Â Play expressive software instruments with the power of touch. Tap the keys on a virtual piano, trigger drum pads with precision, and turn iPad into all kinds of musical instruments.
Plug-in Tiles: A compact view puts the most essential controls for your plug‑ins at your fingertips. Swipe to see all the plug-ins on your track at a glance and double‑tap a tile to access full controls.
Project navigation:Â Quickly and intuitively navigate large sessions with touch. Pinch to zoom your view, drag and drop regions, and swipe across the track header to reveal basic mixing controls and make quick adjustments on the fly.
GarageBand import:Â Open your GarageBand for iOS projects in Logic Pro for iPad and let your creativity fly with pro features and workflows.
Apple Pencil and keyboard:Â Transform your tracks with detailed automation and precise edits using Apple Pencil. Supercharge your workflow by adding a Magic Keyboard or Smart Keyboard Folio for powerful shortcuts.
Browser: See all your sounds in one place. Quickly view available instrument patches, audio patches, plug‑ins, samples, and loops. You can audition each sound right from the browser.
Discovery:Â A predictive filtering system makes it easier than ever to discover that perfect sound.
Sound Library: Get instant access to an expanding collection of royalty‑free loops, samples, and instruments by downloading free sound packs all inside the app.
Plug-ins:Â Shape the sonic character and tone of your music with hundreds of powerful instruments and effects.
Sample Alchemy:Â Transform any audio sample into a malleable sound that you can perform with just a finger using Sample Alchemy.
Software Instruments: Create with a comprehensive collection of sophisticated synths, vintage keyboards, and realistic‑sounding acoustic instruments for any style of music.
Effects:Â Tweak and shape the personality of your tracks with signature reverbs and delays, as well as vintage EQs, compressors, and modulation effects.
Beat Breaker:Â The time and pitch morphing functions of Beat Breaker let you swipe and pinch to radically reshape and shuffle sounds instantly.
Quick Sampler:Â Chop, flip, or transform audio samples or loops into entirely new playable instruments.
Step Sequencer: Program drum patterns, bass lines, and melodies, and even automate plug‑ins with just a few taps. Add variations like randomized steps, velocity, note repeat, and more.
Drum Machine Designer: Build the perfect custom drum kit for your song by applying samples and unique plug‑ins to any drum pad. Drum Machine Designer is also integrated with Step Sequencer, making it easy to build beats quickly.
Live Loops:Â Capture inspiration and quickly build arrangements by recording, mixing, and matching musical loops and phrases. Tap the individual cells to trigger loops and find combinations that work well together to create song sections in real time.
Pro mixer: Command a full‑featured mixing console complete with channel strips, volume faders, pan controls, plug‑ins, sends, and precise automation.
Touch controls: Multi‑Touch controls add a pinch of intuitive magic to your mixing process. So go ahead, touch that dial.
Track Stacks:Â Consolidate multiple related tracks into a single track and quickly create submixes with Track Stacks.
Roundtrip compatibility:Â Easily move your Logic Pro projects between Mac and iPad to create in the studio or out on the road.
Audio Unit Extensions: Tap into compatible third‑party instruments and effects right in your Logic Pro projects. Download apps from top developers like Eventide, FabFilter, and Moog Music on the App Store.
Studio hardware: Plug in your favorite gear using compatible third‑party audio interfaces, MIDI interfaces, and controllers from leading manufacturers like Apogee, Focusrite, Novation, Universal Audio, and more.
Ableton Link:Â Sync playback tempo with hundreds of Link-enabled apps and devices.
Side Chain routing: Channel audio from different sources such as software instruments or loops through a variety of effects, like compressors, for more dynamic and harder‑hitting mixes.
If you want to get started with Logic Pro, just hit the link below and sign up for the one-month free trial today!
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
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