We’d been speculating that Apple could release Logic Pro for iPad for rather a long time before the company’s big reveal a few months ago. They had, after all, been quickly upping the specs of the iPad for a couple of generations, making great strides towards turning the device into a true tablet powerhouse.
The inclusion of the Apple Silicon chips in the latest iPad Pro range was the final signal that a full-fat version of Logic Pro could make the jump from desktop to iPad iOS, and sure enough, shortly after their arrival, Logic Pro was revealed running on the iPad in all its glory. But the best news is you don’t actually require a full-blown iPad Pro with those Silicon chips to run it. Even iPads with the A12 Bionic chip (and running iPad iOS 16.4) are capable of running the app, which means devices going all the way back to the 8th generation iPad, 5th gen Mini and 3rd gen Air.
For many older iPad users, though – including us, it has to be said – running Logic Pro on iPad might mean an upgrade to the latest iPads currently on sale. Those are 9th and 10th generation iPads, the iPad Air and iPad Pros which have A13, A14, M1 and M2 processors respectively, and should run the software without any issues.
So the question is, is this long-awaited release enough to make you upgrade your iPad? And if you already have, how can you make the best of Logic Pro for iPad? Read on!
It’s Logic… and then some
The first thing to report is that Logic Pro for iPad is very much its own beast. While it will be familiar to both GarageBand and Logic Pro users, on whatever platform they are used to making music on, the new iPad version of Logic very much does its own thing, in its way. And really the app has to forge its own path. It’s bringing in an all-touch ethos into Logic music making so will require a slight (and sometimes big) shift in thinking. So this isn’t a port of the desktop version, more a practical vision of Logic Pro that makes use of the new touch environment in which it now sits. And that means it will require some getting used to.
That said, it is also very familiar. You’ll recognise many of the 100 plugins that come with the software like ES2, Space Designer and Retro Synth. However, all-new plugins including Sample Alchemy and Beat Breaker deliver some magical audio and beat features, albeit in a very Logic(al) way. These alone really are worth trying the app out for.
And like the desktop version, you can download as much content as you like, although the maximum is rather less than the 72GB the Mac version requires. For the iPad, you are looking at a very reasonable 15GB, so we say go for the lot.