It's been 13 years since Apple released Final Cut X. That's just over half the lifespan of the video editing software, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in April of this year. Having gone through several lifetimes in the consumer software world, some wonder if the company has quietly washed its hands of its products.
After 13 years of waiting, Final Cut Pro is finally up to 11 and now Apple isn't messing with it anymore. The software will be available for download on Wednesday. Existing users can get Final Cut Pro 11 as a free update, but new customers will have to pay $300 to download it from the Mac App Store after a 90-day trial period.
So what, exactly, justified the long-awaited leap to 11? Two letters: AI. Weeks after bringing Apple Intelligence to iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS, the company is leveraging AI to power new features.
Image credit: Apple
At the top of the list is a magnetic mask that easily cuts out people and objects from your video without relying on a green screen.
“This powerful and accurate automatic analysis gives you even more flexibility to customize your backgrounds and environments,” Apple said. “Editors can also combine magnetic masks with color correction and video effects to precisely control and stylize each project.”
Image credit: Apple
Another top AI-based feature here is Transcribe to Captions. This basically does what it says in the box and adds text to the Final Cut timeline. The company says this feature is powered by its in-house large-scale language model (LLM).
Another big feature here is the focus on Apple's struggling mixed reality headset. After the latest iPhones added the ability to capture spatial video, that content can now be edited in Final Cut. You can correct the color of the video, add effects, and adjust the depth position of the title.
CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that the $3,500 headset is not the mainstream consumer product the company had hoped for, but Apple is reportedly working on a more affordable model. There is. The Vision Pro itself can capture spatial video along with the iPhone 15 Pro and all iPhone 16 models. Canon also recently released a new dual lens for shooting this format on their R7 camera.
The new Final Cut also introduces several time-saving features. For example, the magnetic timeline is a way to quickly rearrange clips while keeping audio and video in sync.
Apple says Final Cut Pro 11 was built specifically for its first-party silicon, the M-series chips. This includes the ability to play more 4K and 8K ProRes video streams simultaneously.
With the arrival of the long-awaited Pro 11, Apple is releasing Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.1. The touch-based interface also features enhanced lighting and color for a better workflow experience. It will also be available as a free download for existing users starting Wednesday.