Fears that Apple was abandoning its former core demographic of media pros have proven to be mostly unfounded in recent years, as the company has resurrected its enthusiast and pro-level software and hardware. The latest to be revivified is Logic Pro X, an evolution of Apple's popular (but, many thought, defunct) digital audio workstation.
The features of the new application will mostly be interesting to audio engineers, although enthusiasts looking to escape GarageBand's limitations may also want to take a look. Logic Pro X brings a revised interface, iPad controls and a bevy of new instruments and tools.
At $199, it's certainly not aimed at the curious dabbler, as iPhoto and iMovie are. In fact, like its companion app for movie editing, Final Cut Pro X, it occupies a strange space somewhere in between enthusiast and pro. Real audio or video workstations with Hollywood-grade software can cost thousands, and many professionals distrust the low cost and amateur-friendly interface.
Nevertheless, Apple seems to be demonstrating a commitment to its original set of users, the designers, artists and other creative types for whom Macs were the tool in the 1990s.
For years, it was thought Apple had left them out in the cold. And with Logic and Final Cut largely unchanged since 2009 and the powerful Mac Pro line of desktops receiving no updates, those fears seemed justified.
But with the expected update of photo-editing suite Aperture later this year, new Logic and Final Cut versions, and a futuristic cylindrical Mac Pro in the works, media professionals are being welcomed back into the fold.
Logic Pro X is available now for $199 on the Mac App Store.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.