Apple have unveiled the biggest update for the music production DAW since Logic Pro X 7 years ago.

Apple’s DAW is one of the top choices for music recording and production and a favourite for studios around the world. That’s why the announcement of a massive new update that has just dropped for Logic Pro X is hugely exciting news.

Logic Pro X 10.5 is available as a free update to all existing users today and represents their biggest update in 7 years since they launched the monumental Logic Pro X. Apple say it is “a massive release for all musicians, including those producing electronic music”.

With a 90 day free trial currently available for Logic you can try it out for a few months even without paying.

There’s a lot to get into, so let’s take a look at what’s new:

Live Loops

With Live Loops on the Mac, Logic users can now create music in new freeform and nonlinear ways. Loops, samples, and recordings can be organized into a new musical grid, where musicians can spontaneously perform and capture different arrangement ideas into the timeline. From there, tracks can be further refined using all of the professional production features in Logic. Remix FX enhances Live Loops with an exciting collection of electronic effects like Bitcrusher, filter, gater, and repeater that can be performed in real time over individual tracks or the entire song mix. Both features become even more powerful when using the free Logic Remote app, allowing users to pair their iPhone or iPad with their Mac to provide Multi-Touch control over Live Loops and Remix FX.

Sampler and Quick Sampler

Sampler represents the next generation of the popular industry-standard EXS24 plug-in with an all-new modern design and expanded sound-shaping controls, while maintaining full backwards compatibility. Producers can use Sampler to create and edit sophisticated multisampled instruments, using elegant drag-and-drop workflows that automate complex production tasks.

The Sampler screen in Logic Pro X.
Sampler is a powerful professional multisampler that enables sound designers to create sophisticated instruments in minutes.

Quick Sampler is a fast and simple way to turn any individual sound into a playable instrument. Musicians can pick a sound from within Logic, the Finder, Voice Memos, or even record directly into Quick Sampler. With just a few clicks, an imported sample can be trimmed, looped, and played across a keyboard controller, with access to creative sound-shaping controls.

The Quick Sampler feature in Logic Pro X.
Quick Sampler makes it easy for artists to instantly turn any sound into a musical instrument.

Beat Creation

Logic Pro X 10.5 offers a collection of new creative tools designed to work together to make it fast and fluid to build original beats — an integral part of hip hop and electronic music production.Step Sequencer is a new editor in Logic designed to make it fun and easy to program drum beats, bass lines, and melodic parts using an interface inspired by classic drum machine workflows. Step Sequencer combines a pattern-based style of music creation with powerful editing options for creating original parts — providing detailed control over note velocity, repeat, gate, skip, playback direction, and randomization.

The Step Sequencer tool in Logic Pro X, displayed on MacBook Pro.
Step Sequencer, a new editor in Logic, is designed to make it easy to build original and creative beats.

Drum Synth provides a wide collection of kick drums, snares, toms, and percussion sounds generated entirely by software. Each sound is accompanied by dedicated sound-shaping controls to help musicians fine-tune their favorite parts. Drum Synth sounds can be used on any pad in Drum Machine Designer, where it can even be blended with samples for creative sound design options.Drum Machine Designer, the tool for building electronic drum kits in Logic, has been enhanced to integrate with the new sampling and beat-programming workflows. Each drum pad can host the new Quick Sampler and Drum Synth plug-ins, making it easy to edit and shape individual sounds within a drum kit. After kits are created, they can be played in real time, or programmed with Step Sequencer.

The Drum Machine Designer tool in Logic Pro X.
Drum Machine Designer has been tightly integrated with the new sampling features of Logic Pro X 10.5.

Logic Remote

Logic Remote is a free companion app that allows users to pair an iPhone or iPad with their Mac to control and perform Logic features and instruments using Multi-Touch. Logic Remote is receiving a major update to allow triggering of sounds in Live Loops, browsing and adding loops, and applying Remix FX to a session.

Optimized Performance for the Mac

Logic Pro X has been optimized to take advantage of the latest Mac hardware and the power of macOS, delivering incredible performance when working with the most demanding projects with thousands of tracks and hundreds of real-time plug-ins.

Logic Pro X 10.5 is available today as a free update for all existing users, and is available on the Mac App Store for $199.99 (US) for new customers. Logic Remote 1.4 is also available today as a free download on the App Store. Customers can sign up for a free trial of Logic Pro X. For more information, visit apple.com/logic-pro.