Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 12:25 pm

With release of Final Cut Pro X, Apple discontinues Express and Server

By Neil Hughes

The release of Final Cut Pro X on the Mac App Store on Tuesday also marked the end of Apple's Final Cut Express and Final Cut Server products, as well as the Final Cut Studio suite.

A person familiar with Apple's retail operations informed AppleInsider that the internal release of Final Cut Pro X on Tuesday was also coupled with an "end of life" announcement for Final Cut Express and Final Cut Server. It was said that as of June 21, Express and Server -- along with Final Cut Studio -- are no more.

That same person said that resellers will be able to return any boxed copies of Final Cut Express, Final Cut Server and Final Cut Studio they may have in inventory. As part of its transition away from boxed retail software, Final Cut Pro X is only available on the Mac App Store.

In addition to Final Cut Pro X, Tuesday also saw the release of Motion 5 and Compressor 4 on the Mac App Store. Selling for $49.99 each via the digital download destination, the applications are apparently no longer part of a now-defunct Final Cut Studio bundle.

What the changes could mean for other applications in Final Cut Studio is unclear. The last update for Final Cut Studio came in July of 2009, and included Soundtrack Pro 3, Color 1.5, and DVD Studio Pro 4.


Reflecting the end-of-life of Server, Express and Studio, the websites Apple previously had devoted to each specific product now all forward to apple.com/finalcutpro. There, visitors are encouraged to download Final Cut Pro X for $299.99 in the Mac App Store. In addition, Server, Express and Studio are no longer available in Apple's online store.

Apple confirmed to Engadget on Tuesday that an Express version of Final Cut will not be made available, and that there will not be any upgrade pricing for current users. Individual users can purchase a single license for use on multiple machines, while business users must buy one license per machine. Volume education pricing is also available for purchase by institutions only.