Final Cut Pro Gaining New Features on Mac and iPad Later This Month

Apple today announced upcoming updates for Final Cut Pro, with the iPad and Mac apps set to gain new features that Apple says will streamline workflows.

final cut pro
Final Cut Pro on the Mac will be updated with organizational refinements like automatic timeline scrolling. Users will be able to keep their clips in view during playback, with the view able to be adjusted using keyboard shortcuts or the Zoom option.

The organization of the timeline will be viewable at a glance, and it will be easier to differentiate clips by assigned role using distinct colors. Apple is also adding tools for cleaning up complex timeline sections and fine tuning edits by combining overlapping connected clips into a single connected storyline.

On Apple silicon Macs, exporting projects in H.264 and HEVC will be faster than before as Final Cut Pro is able to send video segments to available media engines for simultaneous processing.

On the ‌iPad‌, the updated version of Final Cut Pro will include voiceover capabilities that will let creators record narration and audio directly into the timeline with the ‌iPad‌. In pro camera mode, stabilization will now improve shaky footage for smoother video, and there are new options for combining connected clips.

Editing is being sped up through new keyboard shortcuts for voiceover and grouping clips, plus there are new color-grading presets and titles.

The new versions of Final Cut Pro will be coming to the App Store later this month and they will be free to existing users. Final Cut Pro for Mac is priced at $300, and Final Cut Pro for ‌iPad‌ is priced at $4.99 per month or $49 per year.

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Top Rated Comments

MacFan782040 Avatar
27 months ago
These updates are very welcomed. But... the truth is these are very minor and FCP is still way behind Resolve, Premier, and even CapCut.

*sigh*
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mystery hill Avatar
27 months ago
Editing on iPad is Hell. ('https://youtu.be/gosW702fFg4?feature=shared')

iPadOS has too many limitations.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nermal Avatar
27 months ago

Final Cut Pro for iPad is priced at $4.99 per month or $49 per year.
I suppose it's too much to hope that this option becomes available for Mac. As a novice I'd happily pay a few dollars to "try it out" for a month or two, but I can't justify hundreds for something I'll rarely use.

Edit: It seems from the responses that I didn't word that very well (only 4 hours of sleep last night!). I'm not looking for the 90-day trial, I just want something I can use once for a few days, then come back to again a year later. It's rare that I need to edit things, and I don't really need much more functionality than what used to be available in QuickTime Pro.

Maybe I should try to learn Resolve instead...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ludatyk Avatar
27 months ago

Editing on iPad is Hell. ('https://youtu.be/gosW702fFg4?feature=shared')

iPadOS has too many limitations.
What does iPadOS limitation has anything to do with the Final Cut Pro app? It's hypocritical to try and criticize iPadOS in this scenario when Apple is attempting to update a "Pro" app for feature parity with their desktop app.

A comment like this is from the same people who criticize Apple for the lack of Pro apps.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFan782040 Avatar
27 months ago

And to think it was at the top, 12 years ago, when I was studying editing on the glorious V7.

That said, there's still hope.
Software gets better and worse all the time, case in point being Premiere pro, which had been losing traction every year for a while only to be massively improved with recent releases.
I just cannot fathom why -- in an era of enormous consumption of video content, AI tools, and GREAT iPhone cameras -- Apple is choosing to run away from FCP and let it die slowly. It. ? Makes. ? No. ?Sense. ? At. ? All.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ccsicecoke Avatar
27 months ago
It seems a lot of Mac users have switched to DaVinci Resolve + Fusion.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)