{"slug": "final-cut-pro", "name": "Final Cut Pro", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 15, "warners": 4, "score": 1.893, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2025-12-19", "latest": "2026-10-29", "why": "FCP is just faster to edit and has a smoother end-to-end workflow.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 6, "compare": 1, "warn": 4}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "FCP is just faster to edit and has a smoother end-to-end workflow.", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Final Cut Pro"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 790948992, "item_id": 49434312, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49434312", "by": "geerlingguy", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use both the base M4 Mac mini and an M4 MacBook Air for Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Fusion", "excerpt": "I use both the base M4 Mac mini and an M4 MacBook Air for Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Fusion, and while they're not as almost-always-perfectly-smooth as my Mac Studio, they're about 100x better than the experience I used to have on my old Intel MacBook Pros in the 2010s. I edit 4K ProRes and H.265 footage, sometimes with multicam (up to 4 streams) and color adjustments, titles, etc. It's only after stacking 3-5 eff", "context": "edits 4K ProRes and H.265 footage", "use_case": "4K video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 774334976, "item_id": 48395936, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48395936", "by": "sonar_un", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "FCP is just faster to edit and has a smoother end-to-end workflow.", "excerpt": "I use both in my workflows. Though with all of the features of Resolve, I still use FCP for most of my content. FCP is just faster to edit and has a smoother end-to-end workflow. Resolve is still best for colorgrading and fine details, but if you just want to get a project released on time, nothing beats FCP.", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "DaVinci Resolve 21"}, {"id": 757617472, "item_id": 47351092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47351092", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-03-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I edited my 30-45 min long 4k race videos in FCP on that air just fine.", "excerpt": "> I built multiple iOS apps and went through two start up acquisitions with my M1 MBA as my primary computer, as a developer. And the neo is better than the M1 MBA. I edited my 30-45 min long 4k race videos in FCP on that air just fine. Before I was a professional software developer, I used a scrawny second-hand laptop with a Norwegian keyboard (I'm not Norwegian) because that was what I could afford: https://i.imgur", "context": "", "use_case": "editing 4K race videos", "switched_from": "", "story": "Big Data on the Cheapest MacBook"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 796846720, "item_id": 49802920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49802920", "by": "davidee", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Final Cut Pro on MacOS now regularly advertises iPadOS Final Cut Pro", "excerpt": "It's not just iOS. Final Cut Pro on MacOS now regularly advertises iPadOS Final Cut Pro (which is a paid SaaS tool). Professional applications (arguments about Final Cut Pro X not being all that professional notwithstanding) that advertise like that are almost non-existent in the pro audio and video industry; an Apple pro app advertising, would have been heresy a few years ago. And yeah, it drives me crazy. It's one ", "context": "pro audio/video user", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 774361680, "item_id": 48397605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48397605", "by": "alper", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I felt that FCP was underpowered for compositing and grading", "excerpt": "I felt that FCP was underpowered for compositing and grading so I switched from paid FPC to unpaid Resolve. But I don't really edit that much. Resolve is good enough for me for now.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "DaVinci Resolve 21"}, {"id": 745649856, "item_id": 46603116, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603116", "by": "Forgeties79", "date": "2026-01-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it\u2019s clearly not a priority anymore", "excerpt": "It lacks a lot more than flashy social media features - and given their biggest driver in the 2010\u2019s was arguably YouTubers, they actually need more robust social media features. For starters, they just added voice isolation what? A year ago? That has been bog-standard for resolve and premiere for years now. The audio tools in general are still very subpar. I used it professionally from 2011-2020 or so. Around 2020 t", "context": "Used Final Cut Pro professionally 2011-2020", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Creator Studio"}, {"id": 741231952, "item_id": 46326997, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46326997", "by": "rchaud", "date": "2025-12-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "exports are cancelled if you so much as switch to another app during the process", "excerpt": "> 15 years later and the iPad is still the only tablet anyone really talks about. When was the last time anybody talked about the iPad outside of a product launch event? iPad sales are falling [0]. It, like every other type of tablet, is a glorified YouTube/Netflix player for most people. It doesn't do anything that you can't already do on an iPhone. Even on \"pro\" iPad apps like Final Cut, exports are cancelled if yo", "context": "", "use_case": "Video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results"}]}], "who": [{"by": "geerlingguy", "context": "edits 4K ProRes and H.265 footage", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49434312", "date": "2026-08-25"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["video editing", "product demo video editing", "paid software example", "4k video editing", "video editing on mac", "editing 4k race videos"], "compared": [{"slug": "davinci-resolve", "name": "DaVinci Resolve", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "logic-pro", "name": "Logic Pro", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46601157", "title": "Apple Creator Studio", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48384482", "title": "DaVinci Resolve 21", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47349277", "title": "Big Data on the Cheapest MacBook", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50129647", "title": "Survey: How do you create the video demo for your project or product?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50167159", "title": "Ask HN: Is charging for software a thing of the past?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801939", "title": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"warn": 1}, "2026-01": {"warn": 1, "neutral": 2}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"compare": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"warn": 1}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804603649, "item_id": 50287728, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50287728", "by": "devrob", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Historically, I've been using Recordly and Finalcut", "excerpt": "Historically, I've been using Recordly and Finalcut to generate product videos for things. Some examples: https://matchcutfcp.aquaflamingolabs.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "Product demo video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Survey: How do you create the video demo for your project or product?"}, {"id": 802676659, "item_id": 50167291, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50167291", "by": "prologic", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "LittleSnitch, Jetbrains IDe, Plex, Final Cut Pro, etc", "excerpt": "No, not really. There's plenty of software out there that you still pay for, or pay a license for. e.g: LittleSnitch, Jetbrains IDe, Plex, Final Cut Pro, etc", "context": "", "use_case": "paid software example", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is charging for software a thing of the past?"}, {"id": 796846720, "item_id": 49802920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49802920", "by": "davidee", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Final Cut Pro on MacOS now regularly advertises iPadOS Final Cut Pro", "excerpt": "It's not just iOS. Final Cut Pro on MacOS now regularly advertises iPadOS Final Cut Pro (which is a paid SaaS tool). Professional applications (arguments about Final Cut Pro X not being all that professional notwithstanding) that advertise like that are almost non-existent in the pro audio and video industry; an Apple pro app advertising, would have been heresy a few years ago. And yeah, it drives me crazy. It's one ", "context": "pro audio/video user", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 790948992, "item_id": 49434312, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49434312", "by": "geerlingguy", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use both the base M4 Mac mini and an M4 MacBook Air for Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Fusion", "excerpt": "I use both the base M4 Mac mini and an M4 MacBook Air for Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Fusion, and while they're not as almost-always-perfectly-smooth as my Mac Studio, they're about 100x better than the experience I used to have on my old Intel MacBook Pros in the 2010s. I edit 4K ProRes and H.265 footage, sometimes with multicam (up to 4 streams) and color adjustments, titles, etc. It's only after stacking 3-5 eff", "context": "edits 4K ProRes and H.265 footage", "use_case": "4K video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 787686769, "item_id": 49230423, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49230423", "by": "emn4tor", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "compare", "quote": "On Mac I haven't decided between Davinci Resolve and FinalCut", "excerpt": "On Mac I haven't decided between Davinci Resolve and FinalCut, even tho Premiere is great, it's Adobe so meh. On Linux I use Davinci Resolve with some tricks to get the good codecs, would use Davinci on Windows too", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Which editing tool using in 2026?"}, {"id": 784524417, "item_id": 49032776, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49032776", "by": "gabriel666smith", "date": "2026-07-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'm often moving between the browser and editor (typically Final Cut)", "excerpt": "Nice! Because the Grok subscription is the cheapest-per-second video offering (that I'm aware of) but doesn't provide API access, I'm often moving between the browser and editor (typically Final Cut). It feels cheaper by orders of magnitude right now per-second. I'm not sure how long that will continue, but until then, that's pretty important to me, especially when video generation is so imprecise, and thus more of a", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Palmier Pro \u2013 open-source macOS video editor built for AI"}, {"id": 774361680, "item_id": 48397605, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48397605", "by": "alper", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I felt that FCP was underpowered for compositing and grading", "excerpt": "I felt that FCP was underpowered for compositing and grading so I switched from paid FPC to unpaid Resolve. But I don't really edit that much. Resolve is good enough for me for now.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "DaVinci Resolve 21"}, {"id": 774334976, "item_id": 48395936, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48395936", "by": "sonar_un", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "FCP is just faster to edit and has a smoother end-to-end workflow.", "excerpt": "I use both in my workflows. Though with all of the features of Resolve, I still use FCP for most of my content. FCP is just faster to edit and has a smoother end-to-end workflow. Resolve is still best for colorgrading and fine details, but if you just want to get a project released on time, nothing beats FCP.", "context": "", "use_case": "video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "DaVinci Resolve 21"}, {"id": 765933025, "item_id": 47870814, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47870814", "by": "rgovostes", "date": "2026-04-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro", "excerpt": "> The iPad remains my favorite form factor to use in lots of my day but Apple never invested in killer app software optimized for it. Apple doesn't received much credit for making iPhoto for iPad back in 2012 (https://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/07/apple-launches-iphoto-for-ipad-with-photo-editing-and-organization-features/), or more recently Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. I think they really have invested in building pr", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Another Day Has Come"}, {"id": 757786560, "item_id": 47361660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47361660", "by": "achairapart", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "I do most of my work remotely on a little Raspberry Pi 4 server attached to my home ISP: https://fatcity.it/ But I'm planning to do a big jump: Soon I will switch to a 2012 Mac Mini as my primary linux server!", "context": "", "use_case": "Video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Big Data on the Cheapest MacBook"}, {"id": 757617472, "item_id": 47351092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47351092", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-03-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I edited my 30-45 min long 4k race videos in FCP on that air just fine.", "excerpt": "> I built multiple iOS apps and went through two start up acquisitions with my M1 MBA as my primary computer, as a developer. And the neo is better than the M1 MBA. I edited my 30-45 min long 4k race videos in FCP on that air just fine. Before I was a professional software developer, I used a scrawny second-hand laptop with a Norwegian keyboard (I'm not Norwegian) because that was what I could afford: https://i.imgur", "context": "", "use_case": "editing 4K race videos", "switched_from": "", "story": "Big Data on the Cheapest MacBook"}, {"id": 745716944, "item_id": 46607309, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46607309", "by": "lemonlime227", "date": "2026-01-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Final Cut Pro is going to keep getting updates", "excerpt": "Additional info: Final Cut Pro is going to keep getting updates, but certain features (presumably AI related) are not going to be included with the one time purchase and are gated to the subscription [1]. [1]: https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/#:~:text=A%20one%2Dtime%20purchase%20will%20still%20be%20available%2C%20but%20access%20to%20some%20of%20the%20premium%20content%20is%20available%20only%20to%20Apple%C2%A0Crea", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Creator Studio"}, {"id": 745673635, "item_id": 46604602, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46604602", "by": "MaxGL", "date": "2026-01-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "which comes with a Final Cut Pro plugin", "excerpt": "In case anyone is familiar with our app [Jumper](https://getjumper.io), we built this exact search functionality, which comes with a Final Cut Pro plugin (aka Workflow Extension). Sharing my thoughts on this announcements with respect to how it affects Jumper, in case anyone cares While this news is obviously not something to cheer about for us, it's not the first time - Adobe launched their Media Intelligence soluti", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Creator Studio"}, {"id": 745649856, "item_id": 46603116, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603116", "by": "Forgeties79", "date": "2026-01-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it\u2019s clearly not a priority anymore", "excerpt": "It lacks a lot more than flashy social media features - and given their biggest driver in the 2010\u2019s was arguably YouTubers, they actually need more robust social media features. For starters, they just added voice isolation what? A year ago? That has been bog-standard for resolve and premiere for years now. The audio tools in general are still very subpar. I used it professionally from 2011-2020 or so. Around 2020 t", "context": "Used Final Cut Pro professionally 2011-2020", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Creator Studio"}, {"id": 741231952, "item_id": 46326997, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46326997", "by": "rchaud", "date": "2025-12-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "exports are cancelled if you so much as switch to another app during the process", "excerpt": "> 15 years later and the iPad is still the only tablet anyone really talks about. When was the last time anybody talked about the iPad outside of a product launch event? iPad sales are falling [0]. It, like every other type of tablet, is a glorified YouTube/Netflix player for most people. It doesn't do anything that you can't already do on an iPhone. Even on \"pro\" iPad apps like Final Cut, exports are cancelled if yo", "context": "", "use_case": "Video editing", "switched_from": "", "story": "2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results"}]}