Apple just gave Final Cut Pro for the Mac and iPad some big upgrades, including a new AI captions tool

Thursday at 11:42 AM

Final Cut Pro 11 for Mac and Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.1 are available now
The anticipated auto captions features is now on the Mac
Upgrades include AI boosts plus a new version of Final Cut Camera

Alongside brand new versions of Logic Pro for the Mac and iPad – and a few weeks after Apple dropped new Macs and teased a forthcoming version of its pro video editor – the technology giant has officially dropped Final Cut Pro 11, Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.1, plus some major updates to Final Cut Camera.

Much like Logic Pro for iPad’s major update in May 2024 and the rollout of Apple Intelligence, these latest updates circle around AI. Well, AI and delivering on many features requested from users. We have a hunch that many of these will make Final Cut Pro fans – either on the Mac or iPad – plenty happy.

Final Cut Pro 11 on the Mac is ushering in a number of AI-powered features that use Apple’s own on-device language model and the Neural Engine of M1, M2, M3, and M4-powered Macs.

One of the most anticipated after a tease when Apple unveiled the Mac mini is Transcribe to Captions, which, as the name suggests, lets you automatically create accurate captions in an instant. Closed captions will appear after processing the video, and Final Cut Pro does this on-device with Apple’s language model.

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(Image credit: Apple)

Transcribe to Captions joins Magic Mask, which can automatically select and highlight people or objects. This might eliminate the need for rotoscoping or setting up a green screen, among other more time-consuming edits like color correction.

If you have an Apple Vision Pro or dream of producing a film for the wearable spatial computer, Final Cut Pro can now edit spatial videos. While this was first teased back at WWDC 2024, the ability to edit and create Spatial Videos for playback on Apple Vision Pro is now shipping with Final Cut Pro 11.

You’ll be able to import footage from an iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as a Canon EOS R7 with Canon’s RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL lens.

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(Image credit: Apple)

On the iPad, Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.1 brings four new tools to one of the most unique experiences for the touch-first video editing solution. Live Drawing, which lets you easily create video animations with an Apple Pencil, has new watercolor, crayon, fountain, and monoline pen options to express yourself better. Additionally, like on the Mac, there are new transitions, title cards, color presets, sound effects, and video effects within Final Cut.

When adding clips to the timeline or browsing it, you can now pinch-to-zoom with your fingers to adjust the clip height. With an Apple Pencil Pro, you’ll now feel haptics based on whatever you’re adjusting – this is long-awaited, especially if you invested in Apple’s flagship stylus.

Last but not least, Final Cut Camera is getting some long-request features. For starters, it now has a level with roll and tilt indicators to ensure you get the best shot possible from any angle. Plus, if you’re using this to capture footage on an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, you can now record at up to 4K resolution at 120 frames per second.

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(Image credit: Apple)

This latest update also allows you to record Log-encoded HEVC video when shooting with just one or multiple devices, and you can enable a LUT – lookup table – preview simultaneously.

While not a complete redesign or major change to Final Cut Pro, these updates across Final Cut Pro for Mac and iPad and Final Cut Camera for iPhone will likely make a big difference. They seek to help folks speed up workflows and edits and answer the call for some directly requested features.

You’ll get these updates for free if you already have Final Cut Pro for Mac or iPad. However, if you’re new, you must pay or subscribe. Final Cut Pro 11 for the Mac is $299; on the iPad, it’s $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Final Cut Camera is still a free app for the iPhone.