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Final Cut Pro on iPad Feels Like a Great and Optional Upgrade

Yes, finally. And it’s very much a stepping stone.

I’ve had a lot of weird existential feelings trying to use Final Cut Pro for the iPad, which is available today along with Logic Pro. Existential because, well, I’m not a pro video editor. Could I be? Should I be? This is Apple’s ongoing creative invitation it extends through the possibilities of its pro hardware. I’ve been here before.

The Apple Pencil was my invitation to be an artist, and I never took it. It’s nice that it’s there, though. The same is true for Final Cut Pro, an overdue pro video editing tool made only for iPads running M1 chips or later. This is one of those pro apps I was expecting Apple to have when the M1 iPad Pro first arrived back in 2021. Now that it’s here, I’m also wondering how much I will ever personally use it.

Apple already offers free iMovie and GarageBand creative apps that are perfectly fine, although iMovie has always felt too limited in its layout and design. Final Cut Pro immediately feels a lot more flexible, with overlapping timelines for video, animation and audio, a really cool scrubbing jog wheel that feels more granular for minor edits (and brings me back to my old linear video editing days 25 years ago), and works well enough for touchscreen and keyboard/trackpad. Or, maybe, both at once.

I played around with Final Cut Pro on an iPad Air with an M1 chip, the lowest entry point in Apple’s iPad catalog that works with Final Cut Pro (the M1 and M1 iPad Pros are also supported). It worked well enough for me, although the smaller iPad display, compared to my 13-inch MacBook Air, made looking at some preview windows and track details feel a little more challenging.

I’m particularly interested in that last part because Macs still don’t have touchscreens, and some inevitable further fusion of Macs and iPads seems like it’s been in the works in slow motion for about five years now. Final Cut Pro isn’t as full-featured as the Mac version, and it’s also designed, weirdly, to funnel its output up to the Mac app but not the other way around. In that sense, it feels like an intermediary step for any pro video editor… something you’d use in the field, maybe, beginning video editing work before perhaps finishing off on a Mac.

Because the Mac app has more plug-ins (something I haven’t even begun to play with), and has the advantage of larger Mac displays and external monitors, I’d expect any video editor doing professional work to default to that, especially since Macs with M1/M2 processors are so good and small already. 

Using an Apple Pencil to draw on an iPad screen showing a couple in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Using an Apple Pencil to draw on an iPad screen showing a couple in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sketching or writing with the Pencil automatically can be added into video edits. This idea could be expanded even further, though.

Scott Stein/CNET

However, I see a lot of advantages bubbling up here in Final Cut Pro on iPadOS. The scrub tool is clever (although trackpads on Macs could do something similar). Some support for instant Pencil animations opens up possibilities for ways to blend graphic art and video editing, although the doorway in Final Cut Pro feels more slightly opened than truly maximized. 

It almost doesn’t matter what I think. The decision to take a dive doesn’t cost much: Apple made this and Logic Pro its first pro creative subscription apps, which cost $5 a month each and also have a one-month free trial. Turning on and off the subscription could also allow someone to work on a project only when they needed to, turn it off, and come back months later if another gig or need opened up. Projects can still be shared when the subscription is turned off, but not edited.

I’m confused by some decisions here. Final Cut Pro doesn’t support true external monitor extension, even though iPadOS and M1/M2 chips do. The app mirrors whatever’s shown on the iPad display to a connected external monitor, but it feels like this should have been a chance to stretch out the iPad Pro’s capabilities. 

The subscription model also leaves me feeling very mixed: It’s a relatively affordable way to add in the pro app to your life as opposed to the $300 price on the Mac. At $50 a year, that would equal six years of use. For sure, in six years’ time, Apple will have evolved its Mac and iPad computer landscape, requiring some new software to buy anyway (not to mention whatever mixed-reality features might dovetail with the company’s rumored headsets). Maybe renting creative tools does make more sense. It’s a similar model to how Adobe works, and makes me wonder how many people will choose Apple’s new app over another like Adobe Premiere Rush, which also has multitrack timeline editing features.

But it also makes me wonder why iPad Pros just don’t come included with Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. Or, get a year-long included subscription, much like Apple TV Plus and Apple Arcade deals get offered. Maybe that’s going to happen. Maybe Apple folds its new pro apps into yet another subscription tier in its ever-expanding subscription services catalog. It’s all a clear reminder that iPads are extremely capable of running high-end software, but I knew that already. Now I just want Mac and iPad workflows to feel even more logically interconnected, too.

Technologies

This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US

Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686

Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s Connections puzzle might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Do the math.

Green group hint: Tresses.

Blue group hint: Munchies.

Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Calculator buttons.

Green group: Amounts of hair.

Blue group: Salty snack unit.

Purple group: Swedish ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.


Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Sleep tight

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

  • BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

  • MASK, EARPLUGS, MELATONIN, MEDITATION, MOUTHGUARD

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BEDTIME. To find it, start with the B that’s five letters down on the farthest row to the left and wind across.

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