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

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.



57 Comments

dagamer34 18 Years · 494 comments

I wonder if Apple will ever endorse upgrade pricing for future versions of Final Cut Pro or any apps on the App Store.

_hawkeye_ 15 Years · 139 comments

What was the price of the now discontinued Final Cut Express? Looks like it might have been $199.

I can see Apple concentrating on just a single product, rather than two. But for low-end users, they now have to pony up another $100? more actually, because Final Cut Express could be found discounted, previously. So effectively, the cost has doubled for low-end users.

netiquette 14 Years · 1 comment

This is great for digital video. Express and Server editions were dead weight. Now Final Cut Pro will be able to take digital video to the next level by focusing on their core product.

johnmcboston 18 Years · 201 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by _Hawkeye_

What was the price of the now discontinued Final Cut Express? Looks like it might have been $199. .

That sounds about right. Plus, while FC has been getting upgrades over the years, FCxpress has gone 4-5 years without any upgrade.

With the new FC priced so low, there's not much of a need to keep Express 'officially' around any more.

arlomedia 17 Years · 271 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by _Hawkeye_

I can see Apple concentrating on just a single product, rather than two. But for low-end users, they now have to pony up another $100? more actually, because Final Cut Express could be found discounted, previously. So effectively, the cost has doubled for low-end users.

As a person who only edits video a few times a year, but needs a better tool than iMovie, I'm looking at it the other way: I can now get the full "pro" version for just $100 more, where previously it was completely out of my price range.

I have run into a couple occasions where I wanted a feature that was only in the pro version ... and it was annoying that most of the online help and tutorials I found were for the pro version ... so this new approach works for me.