Whether you're an amateur bedroom composer or a professional sound engineer, you probably know Logic Pro X better than the back of your hand – and now, thanks to a free update, Apple's music production software is getting a hefty upgrade to bring it in line with the new Mac Pro.
Unveiled at WWDC 2019, the Mac Pro 2019 boasts a 28-core Intel Xeon processor, and up to 1.5TB of 6-channel ECC system memory – and with the new Logic Pro X update, the digital audio workstation (DAW) can take advantage of those numerous cores.
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According to an Apple press release, "Logic Pro X 10.4.5 will now support up to 56 processing threads, allowing pro music producers and film composers to work through incredibly demanding music projects with unprecedented ease."
Bigger and faster than ever
So what does that mean for music producers? Well, alongside the new Mac Pro, Logic Pro X can now run "up to five times the number of real-time plug-ins compared to the previous generation Mac Pro".
Furthermore, the update means that the DAW can now support "up to 1,000 audio tracks and 1,000 software instrument tracks, providing four times the number of available tracks for the most complex productions".
Whether a casual user would ever need so many instrument tracks is unlikely, but it could prove incredibly useful for film composers who need to work with hundreds of cues at a rapid speed.
Apple says that "users can also expect improved responsiveness of the Mixer and Event List when working with large sessions, and projects with numerous Flex Time edits and tempo changes perform more efficiently than ever".
If you have Logic Pro X already, the upgrade is free – you just need to update your software to take advantage. Otherwise, you can buy the DAW from the App Store for $199 / £199 / AU$319.
If you like the sound of using the upgraded software alongside the new Mac Pro, you'll have to wait a little while to do so – Apple hasn't revealed an official release date for the desktop computer, but we do know it's coming out between September and November 2019.
The Mac Pro will also cost you an awful lot of money, as Apple is aiming the desktop at production crews and serious creators – it's not a consumer product, which is why you'll find the spec and price to be far in excess of what you can afford (and what you probably need).
It's set to cost $5,999 (about £4,730 / AU$8,720), and that's for the base model with an 8-core Intel Xeon processor (CPU), Radeon 580X graphics processor (GPU) and 32GB of ECC memory (RAM).
We only know the price for the base model so far, but a recent estimate suggests it could cost has high as $45,000 (around £35,000, AU$65,000).
Of course, you'll still be able to run Logic Pro X 10.4.5 on your trusty MacBook Pro if you decide $45,000 is a little excessive.
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