Apple News, Analysis and Podcasts

With the dust settling on Final Cut Pro X, with both its detractors and supporters alike, a recent report shed some light that 64-bit Final Cut Pro 8 was ready to roll, but the decision was made to leave it on the cutting room floor and break ties with traditional editing solutions and deliver a new direction. Apple's goal in Final Cut X was clear: Jobs philosophy to skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is now, would rule the day.

The result wasn't pretty. The pro editing market is not the consumer world, and a massive backlash against Final Cut X spewed forth across the board. Professional editors like their tools and don't like them to change (that's putting it lightly). But those that have embraced Final Cut X have also been left wanting. What is Apple going moving forward?

The problem isn't easy to solve, and Apple has never been a company that tries to be all things to all people. But in the pro market, the user base is finite, but the cash cow products they purchase are attractive to court. Could Apple reverse course, and deliver more choice to the industry in releasing the 64-bit Final Cut Pro 8 suite?

It's not a likely Apple would do this, but we have yet to see a heavy dose of Tim Cook's will laid down upon the company, and this could be one area where pro users would welcome a new resolve outside of the Jobs manifesto.

But there is a bigger problem lurking for Final Cut anything. Apple may be on the cusp of killing off it's Mac Pro hardware, effectively ending their pro presense long-term. Rumors have been circulating that Apple is considering killing off the pro towers, leaving the pro editing community to exit the Mac platform. Others are pointing towards the idea of Apple delivering a new rack-mountable Mac Pro/Server product making an introduction sometime in the first half of 2012.

Throwing away a loyal and lucrative market seems, no matter how niche, ill advised. Redesigning the Mac Pro to work as both a tower and rack mountable design is not rocket science, and would signal support for pro markets long term whether a 64-bit Final Cut Pro 8 makes it to market or never emerges. But continuing to let the editing software remain in quasi-disrepair for both types of Final Cut users, while leaving the Mac Pro languishing, does no one but AVID and their hardware supporters any favors.

0 Comments

Leave your reply