Logic Pro Review

Logic Pro is Apple's digital audio workstation for writing, recording and mixing music on Mac and iPad. What decides whether it suits you is largely the platform and the purchase path: a one-time purchase on Mac, or a subscription bundle for full features on iPad.

What is Logic Pro?

Logic Pro is made by Apple. Logic Pro for Mac and Logic Pro for iPad are treated as one product: both are installed applications, with Logic Pro for Mac available as a standalone app and Logic Pro for iPad's full feature set delivered through the Apple Creator Studio subscription bundle.

Making music in Logic Pro

Logic Pro edits MIDI in the Piano Roll Editor and ships virtual instruments including Alchemy, Retro Synth, Studio Bass, Studio Piano, Drum Synth and Quick Sampler, plus a Sound Library of loops and samples that expands with Producer Packs. It hosts third-party Audio Unit plugins, and its Pitch Correction listens to pitch using machine learning and adjusts it in real time, alongside Flex Pitch for manual correction.

Stem Splitter separates drums, bass, vocals, guitar, piano and other instruments from a track, useful for remixing, sampling or practice. Session Players are AI-powered musicians that take direction on the fly and play synth, bass, keyboard and drum parts to fit a song. Spatial Audio mixing uses integrated Dolby Atmos tools and exports ADM files for streaming services, and a Score Editor displays and imports music notation, including MusicXML files.

Working with other people

Logic Pro exchanges projects round trip with Final Cut Pro and MainStage, and its Logic Remote companion app lets you control up to seven effects at once with Multi-Touch from an iPhone or iPad. It has no real-time collaboration feature for multiple people working on the same project. Logic Pro runs on Mac and iPad.

Logic Pro pricing: what each plan gives

Logic Pro for Mac is a one-time purchase for $199.99: you buy it once and keep it, with no subscription required. Logic Pro for iPad's full feature set instead needs the Apple Creator Studio subscription, which also bundles Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor and MainStage; that subscription is $12.99 a month, or $10.75 a month when paid yearly. A 30-day free trial is offered for the Apple Creator Studio subscription, rather than a standalone trial of Logic Pro. There is no free plan.

Privacy and support

Logic Pro is installed software on Mac and iPad: it edits your projects locally, and beyond the Apple Account used to license or subscribe, it has no separate cloud service that your music passes through. Support is available by phone and chat through Apple Support, plus Apple's community discussion forums.

Who Logic Pro suits

Logic Pro suits Mac-based musicians and producers who want a full-featured DAW they can buy once and keep, with built-in orchestral and electronic instruments, AI stem splitting, AI-powered Session Players, and Dolby Atmos mixing in one app. It also suits anyone who wants their projects to stay local rather than pass through a separate cloud service.

It suits less well anyone working primarily on iPad who wants full functionality without joining the Apple Creator Studio subscription, since the Mac app's one-time purchase does not cover the iPad version's full features. It also suits less well teams who need real-time collaboration on a shared project, since Logic Pro has no such feature.

Frequently Asked Questions