THE WORLD’S PREFERRED VIDEO
EDITOR
Final Cut Pro has come a long way since it
first launched in 1998, with the software now
ubiquitous in the film and television industry.
Although Apple’s also worked on iMovie since
1999, a consumer-focused video editing platform
that has been free for all macOS users since
2013, it’s Final Cut Pro that has had the biggest
impact on the world of video editing. First
created by Macromedia Inc, Apple acquired the
software in 1998 and the rest, as many say, is
history. According to one report, Final Cut Pro
makes up 49% of the United States professional
editing market, though in recent years it’s faced
increased competition from the likes of Adobe
Premiere Pro and VEGAS Pro. Indeed, some of the
world’s biggest films have been edited on the
software, including The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button, 500 Days of Summer, and X-Men Origins:
Wolverine, but with Apple significantly increasing
its investment in hardware with the likes of the M1
Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips, and the launch
of the Mac Studio and upcoming redesigned Mac
Pro, many argue that the software no longer lives
up to its rivals, and indeed does not make the best
use of the advancements in Apple technology in
recent years. Indeed, the software last received
a major update in December 2017, when it
launched Final Cut Pro X 10.4, adding enhanced
color editing tools, 360-degree video editing
support, support for HDR, and support for the
HEVC video format and HEIF photo format. Since
then, the company has only updated the software
once to remove the ‘X’ from the branding of the
software and made minor tweaks and changes to
accommodate new versions of macOS ever since.