Apple launches Logic Pro on iPad (yes, really)

goldtop · May 2023

Coming later this month. Alas ... subscription only.

https://www.apple.com/logic-pro-for-ipad/

theatreanchor · May 2023

FCPx too. Think the cost applies if you’ve already bought the standalone versions? That’s annoying.

stickyfiddle · May 2023

Excellent. The upfront cost on Mac is equivalent to several years of subscription on iPad so it's not ridiculous (*looks at Adobe with squinty eyes...*)

But a cheaper option for those who already have it on Mac wouldn't go amiss. I'm guessing they see it as a good way in for amateurs starting out, and a useful tool for pros etc allowing easy transfer between Mac and ipad. I'm still on GarageBand tbh but I'm definitely interested in picking up a "proper" DAW

octatonic · May 2023

iPads are terrible to write music with.

Hard pass.

TTony · May 2023

The iPad is great for grabbing quick ideas.

Instant on, easy interface and Garageband FoC ready and waiting. It got me into recording many years ago.

But a full heavyweight DAW on an iPad ?? If you've *only* got an iPad, maybe it's what you've been waiting for, but I'll stick with a laptop, multiple screens, multiple interfaces, cheap storage, etc.

dindude · May 2023

Interesting - I use Cubasis on iPad for music making, along with other apps. I love the iPad for music making, nothing kills my inspiration more than a mouse and keyboard. On an iPad you grab a fader or hit a button, albeit a soft one. I may have a look at this but not sure I want to learn a new ecosystem.

theatreanchor · May 2023

octatonic said:

iPads are terrible to write music with.

Hard pass.

Well, if you’ve got recorded sketches of songs on your MacBook and you’re away from home, you can still work on arrangements and ideas on an iPad without having to take your laptop. It’s going to be very useful in the evenings after work when away from home. And a healthier alternative to the mini bar.

goldtop · May 2023

TTony said:

The iPad is great for grabbing quick ideas.

Instant on, easy interface and Garageband FoC ready and waiting. It got me into recording many years ago.

But a full heavyweight DAW on an iPad ?? If you've *only* got an iPad, maybe it's what you've been waiting for, but I'll stick with a laptop, multiple screens, multiple interfaces, cheap storage, etc.

The gap is tiny now. The iPad Pro with M2/8GB/512GB is effectively a MacBook Air with a touch-screen.

More than capable of doing 90% of tFBer's recording projects. Pros need more, and they always will, I guess.

TTony · May 2023

goldtop said:

The gap is tiny now. The iPad Pro with M2/8GB/512GB is

£1600. 'kin expensive

Fair point in terms of its processing / storage adequacy ... but I'd still like a decent sized screen.

goldtop · May 2023

TTony said:

goldtop said:

The gap is tiny now. The iPad Pro with M2/8GB/512GB is

£1600. 'kin expensive

Fair point in terms of its processing / storage adequacy ... but I'd still like a decent sized screen.

Actually, it now does that, too. Since iPadOS 16.something, you can attach a HD/QHD/4k external monitor and run it as an independent 16:9 screen alongside the iPad's 4:3 ratio screen. But only on the M1/M2 processor models. Lesser models can only mirror the display.

octatonic · May 2023

theatreanchor said:

octatonic said:

iPads are terrible to write music with.

Hard pass.

Well, if you’ve got recorded sketches of songs on your MacBook and you’re away from home, you can still work on arrangements and ideas on an iPad without having to take your laptop. It’s going to be very useful in the evenings after work when away from home. And a healthier alternative to the mini bar.

Yeah, because a Macbook isn't at all portable.
The supported iPads cost as much as a laptop.

I have 3 iPads in the studio.
Two are for Soundflow control, one is on my Avid Dock as a source/headphone send, monitor source controller.

Using an iPad as a DAW?
Hard pass.

Philtre · May 2023

When is it coming out for Apple Watch? :-0

Habanero · May 2023

Philtre said:

When is it coming out for Apple Watch? :-0

I actually tried Garageband on an iPod Touch once. That was enough.

dindude · May 2023

octatonic said:

theatreanchor said:

octatonic said:

iPads are terrible to write music with.

Hard pass.

Well, if you’ve got recorded sketches of songs on your MacBook and you’re away from home, you can still work on arrangements and ideas on an iPad without having to take your laptop. It’s going to be very useful in the evenings after work when away from home. And a healthier alternative to the mini bar.

Yeah, because a Macbook isn't at all portable.
The supported iPads cost as much as a laptop.

I have 3 iPads in the studio.
Two are for Soundflow control, one is on my Avid Dock as a source/headphone send, monitor source controller.

Using an iPad as a DAW?
Hard pass.

Having a look at your set up, I think your needs are very much pro, in which case an iPad wouldn’t be best. But if you’ve literally got a small desk then it’s a great option, once I’ve tracked any “live” instruments, I can sit on the sofa with headphones and get a rough mix and play with sequencing etc. much more comfortably than a laptop.

Is yours a commercial set up I assume?

Stratavarious · May 2023

Wires are the problem.. midi, audio.. ends up not making the most of the portability. Never got on with Auria Pro as a full on iPad DAW. I use Logic remote though.

Big use case will be tweaking and remixing on a sofa, train or plane I suppose. Same with Final Cut… but I have two external multi TB drives for the media.

Danny1969 · May 2023

A Macbook Air is actually smaller than than an Ipad Pro so it's hard to get excited by an Ipad option of logic. I mix on iPad all the time, haven't mixed on an FOH desk for years now and although it's kinda OK for live I don't I could do anything even approaching a rough mix recording demo wise on an iPad, the fader movement is just hit and miss and so it setting things like the Q value on a para and the threshold of a compressor. It's just a more accurate with a mouse.
They do make good remotes for Logic and Mainstage though.

monquixote · May 2023

Danny1969 said:

A Macbook Air is actually smaller than than an Ipad Pro so it's hard to get excited by an Ipad option of logic. I mix on iPad all the time, haven't mixed on an FOH desk for years now and although it's kinda OK for live I don't I could do anything even approaching a rough mix recording demo wise on an iPad, the fader movement is just hit and miss and so it setting things like the Q value on a para and the threshold of a compressor. It's just a more accurate with a mouse.
They do make good remotes for Logic and Mainstage though.

I guess now you have mouse support for iPad so you can always use a dock.

I still think a laptop was better, but plenty of people don't have one these days.

Stratavarious · May 2023

An ipad dock effectively makes it a laptop

hollywoodrox · May 2023

Not keen on the subscription idea I like Logic on my iMac .

menamestom · May 2023

I know quite a few people that record loads on Garage Band on Ipads. Makes sense for those if they want to develop projects and are more than happy with the ipad workflow. A very reasonable price for a much more powerful tool. Wouldn't be surprised if they put it in as an option with one of their bundles like Apple One.

Much as I like GB on the ipad, a few things stop me using it.

No 'save' button, changes just automatically stay, I hate that
Plugins very basic, just okay
lack of record formats for higher quality source files.

Also worth noting, this may end up being a gateway back to the Mac world. I may download it just to have a play and may move to a Macbook when my Laptop gets past it. This means any projects can seamlessly move to the new Macbook you have started on the ipad.

It's a great move by Apple IMO, although I'll find out more when I try it.

goldtop · May 2023

Also: Pianoteq - which I think is pretty much another industry standard - came to iPadOS this week. Also quite a high-end product.

stickyfiddle · May 2023

menamestom said:

I know quite a few people that record loads on Garage Band on Ipads. Makes sense for those if they want to develop projects and are more than happy with the ipad workflow. A very reasonable price for a much more powerful tool. Wouldn't be surprised if they put it in as an option with one of their bundles like Apple One.

Yeah - this seems reasonable. It's not going to be option 1 for pros in big studios who have Mac Pros and endless outboard kit. But for amateurs and young folks who already have an ipad and a couple of mics it'll be a step up

hollywoodrox · May 2023

Audiokit have just launched the FREE “King of FM” synth too . Their previous FM player 2 & FM Player is top drawer it’s hard to understand how they could have improved it but apparently they have .

menamestom · May 2023

stickyfiddle said:

menamestom said:

I know quite a few people that record loads on Garage Band on Ipads. Makes sense for those if they want to develop projects and are more than happy with the ipad workflow. A very reasonable price for a much more powerful tool. Wouldn't be surprised if they put it in as an option with one of their bundles like Apple One.

Yeah - this seems reasonable. It's not going to be option 1 for pros in big studios who have Mac Pros and endless outboard kit. But for amateurs and young folks who already have an ipad and a couple of mics it'll be a step up

Yes, I can't Imagine pro studios doing everything from anI ipad or taking work home on an Ipad out of hours. It might not even work that way, i.e. it might be a one way street.

Plus there's no reason with the functionality it will have, people can't produce pro quality results, many people release stuff they have recorded themselves nowadays and this opens things up a little more. You don't have to go and buy a £1500 Macbook, or a PC with loads of software. You may be able to use the ipad you already have, but without the limitations and frustrations of Garageband.

One issue I can see is storage, if the basic install and virtual instruments takes up too much space, it's a moot point anyway. Not many people will rush out to but 1tb ipad pro's when you could just buy a Mac.

I've cleared space on my ipad Air in anticipation. I have 30gb free. I'm currently finishing an album on PC/Cubase, when it's done I'd quite like to try something more ambitions on the ipad just to change the workflow for a bit and see how that changes what I record.

menamestom · May 2023

Had a quick play today, feels better than Garageband and pretty intuitive.

goldtop · May 2023

TBH, if Apple added a few basic things to iOS Garageband (MIDI out, normalisation of audio, etc), it'd suit a lot of home musicians.

stickyfiddle · May 2023

goldtop said:

TBH, if Apple added a few basic things to iOS Garageband (MIDI out, normalisation of audio, etc), it'd suit a lot of home musicians.

But then nobody would subscribe to Logic...

goldtop · May 2023

^ Yup - to get even mid-level features, you have to cough up a pro-level price. I understand Apple's tactics, but mid-level hobbyists end up looking elsewhere - Cubasis, BM3, etc. (Or Reaper/etc for Mac users.)

Anyhoo, here's an interesting comparison of how it performs on 4 levels of iPad. Up to 80 tracks on every model that can run it:

From the differences between the two benchmarks, it would seem that Apple has done well on optimising Logic's own plugins.

dindude · May 2023

GarageBand always seems really toy like to me, a music tool for non musicians - I might try the Logic free period, I watched a YouTube intro the other day, very few around at the time, and the guy had it sat upright on his iPad keyboard the whole time and complained of the lack of shortcut keys! Facepalm!

Anyway, some things looked good, others looked a bit clunky to be honest. I’ve lost a bit of faith in Apples ability to make things as simple as they once did, has anyone tried to set an alarm on an iPhone recently, Jesus, wouldn’t like to be in the mind of whoever designed that car crash.

Anyway, people seem to ignore Cubasis, been round for years and is a fantastic iPad DAW, for me it gets a great balance between ease of use and features that don’t feel at all limiting.

menamestom · May 2023

goldtop said:

TBH, if Apple added a few basic things to iOS Garageband (MIDI out, normalisation of audio, etc), it'd suit a lot of home musicians.

Not just home musicians, but for live / field recordings also. I used GB the other day to record 8 live tracks from my Zoom Livetrack 12. Worked fine, except for the frustration of setting up 8 tracks manually rather than as one operation.

I'll try the same with logic next time I'm in the studio. But first impression was Logic adds the functionality GB misses, which is good, but it does feel a bit like an unlocked GB rather than something completely new. That said, I've only scratched the surface.

goldtop · May 2023

Seems there's still some usability issues to address. It seems that Logic cannot be made full-screen on an external monitor:

Image: https://i.redd.it/8d5p9vcle42b1.jpg

Not my setup - someone posted this on reddit. I am not bothering with an external monitor for the moment, as I'm pretty sure I'll be trying to press on the screen to move dials and zoom in/out.

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Apple launches Logic Pro on iPad (yes, really)

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