Final Cut 2 on iPad brings AI video editing to your fingertips

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple Let Loose Event

1. Let Loose iPad event LIVE — New iPad Pro, iPad Air, and more as it happens!
2. OLED iPad Pro — Will it be M3 or M4?
3. iPad Air 6 — Is the M2 chip coming to the iPad Air?
4. Apple Pencil 3 — Or should we say Apple Pencil Pro?

Apple's "Let Loose" event revealed fresh new models for iPad Air and iPad Pro, but the app that's going to give the new M4 chip a proper workout could be Final Cut Pro.

Revealed alongside a new version of Logic Pro, Apple is leaning into AI-based features to take video editing on a tablet to the next level - and the Mac is getting new tools to use, too.

The headline addition on iPad is the ability to use Live Multicam, receiving four camera feeds at once via a new Final Cut Camera app that runs on iPad and iPhone and will let users connect to their Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 app wirelessly, while also functioning as a standalone professional video capture app.

Users will be able to edit from an external drive on iPad, too, as long as they have iPadOS 17.5 or later, while Apple says you'll be able to isolate a subject from a background in Final Cut Pro with a single tap if you're using the new M4 iPad Pro. It'll also utilize new features like the haptic feedback and shortcut menu offered by the Apple Pencil Pro.

Final Cut Pro on Mac — (Image credit: Apple)

More AI features for Mac video editors

Mac users with Apple Silicon will be able to use new AI features like Enhance Light and Color, which Apple says offers "the ability to improve color, color balance, contrast, and brightness in one simple step, and is optimized for SDR, HDR, RAW, and Log-encoded media".

Smooth Slo-Mo will also intelligently generate and blend frames of video together, while you can now rename color corrections and video effects in the editor.

As of the time of writing, Apple hasn't revealed when either Final Cut update will be available, outside of "Spring" for the iPad version, alongside Final Cut Camera.

Both will be free for existing users. New users will need to pay $4.99/£4.99 a month (or $49/£49) per year for Final Cut Pro for iPad 2, while the Mac version remains $299.99.

We're covering the Apple iPad event as it happens. Follow the Let Loose event LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the new OLED iPad Pro, iPad Air, and the new Apple Pencil.

Lloyd Coombes is a freelance writer with a specialism in Apple tech. From his first, hand-me-down iMac, he’s been working with Apple products for over a decade, and while he loves his iPhone and Mac, the iPad will always have his heart for reasons he still can’t quite fathom. Since moving from blogging to writing professionally, Lloyd’s work can be found at TechRadar, Macworld, TechAdvisor and plenty more. He’s also the Editor in Chief at GGRecon.com, and on the rare occasion he’s not writing you’ll find him spending time with his son, or working hard at the gym (while wearing an Apple Watch, naturally). You can find him on Twitter @lloydcoombes.