Final Cut Pro X in 2013

What might we expect for Final Cut Pro X in the year 2013?

FCPX will be two years old in June. We should be seeing new features in the next update.
And here are some reasons why we could see Final Cut Pro X version 10.1 in 2013.

1) I think a two year full point upgrade cycle for FCPX in 2013 is more likely than a three year upgrade cycle in 2014.

2) There is only one more incremental numerical update left for Final Cut Pro X - 10.0.9. We had five FCPX updates in 2012. I don't think Apple will only have one more update, 09, over the remaining 8 months of 2013. The next update should have new features since the last two, 07 & 08, were mainly bug fix updates. Although there is also nothing stopping Apple from going straight to FCPX10.1.

3) Apple doesn't have the luxury of a leisurely release schedule for FCPX. To get and retain customers, Apple has to stay aggressive and at the forefront of modern NLE applications. Avid and Premiere are formidable competitors. At NAB 2013, Avid has announced version 7 of Media Composer and Adobe has announced major new features for Premiere Pro.

Previous upgrades for one version of Final Cut Pro to the next full point upgrade were discounted from the full price. Currently there is no way to get a discounted price on an upgrade for an app you previously bought from the App Store.

Apple could introduce Final Cut Pro X version 10.1 with some kind of discount for a week or so. Or Apple can change the App store rules to include an upgrade path for existing customers of a given app. This is something App Store developers and customers have been requesting for quite a while.

What kind of new features can we expect to see in future versions of Final Cut Pro X? There are three categories.

The first category would be to add back missing requested features that FCP7 had previously (audio mixer, multiple scopes windows open at the same time, custom recallable window layouts). I expect the FCPX team will continue to return missing features that are much better versions than previous incarnations (like they did with multicam, persistent selections and Share).

The second category would be to add features that FCP never had but are an industry standard (a scrolling timeline or guide lines).

And the third category would be new unique FCPX features that no one has (like the introduction of the skimmer or the magnetic timeline) - where the puck is going, magic NLE features. Whatever the Final Cut Pro X team has up their sleeves, these are the features that will justify a full point upgrade to V 10.1.

2013 could prove to be quite an exciting time for FCPX users with future updates, new powerful iMacs already here and a new Mac Pro promised in "later" 2013. As a professional user and proponent of Final Cut Pro X, I maintain a master list of Final Cut Pro X feature requests here. Let's see how many Final Cut Pro X requests Apple crosses off the list in 2013.