What to Know Before Updating to Logic Pro 11.1

ianlecheminant

1 year ago

Quick Facts

This week Apple released Logic Pro 11.1 for macOS and Logic Pro for iPad 1.2.

Official press release linked below:

Apple Newsroom – Final Cut Pro 11 begins a new chapter for video editing on Mac

Don’t worry, they talk about Logic 11.1 in the press release linked above.

This update brings some nice quality-of-life improvements to the company’s flagship DAW.

Highlight Features Include:

Quantec Room Simulator plug-in
Reorder Mixer Channels/Tracks within the Mixer Window
Native Plugin Search on macOS version
Samples Folders for iPad version

And a host of other improvements. For more details on that, check out the full update release notes listed below:

Logic Pro for Mac release notes
Logic Pro for iPad release notes

Before You Update, Things To Know

Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 requires macOS Sonoma 14.4 or later and 6GB of available storage space for minimum installation, or 72GB of storage space for full Sound Library installation.
Logic Pro for iPad 2.1 requires iPadOS 18.1 or later and an iPad with Apple A12 Bionic chip or later. Stem Splitter requires an iPad with M1 or Apple A17 Pro chip or later.

My Initial Impressions

I stayed up way too late trying out and testing Logic Pro 11.1 for Mac the last two nights.

So far it is feelings like a solid update. I tested the update with some old cues of mine built in previous versions of Logic. No immediate issues were experienced during my limited testing time.

My current rig is pretty simple and consists of the following core items:

Computer: M1 Max MacBook Pro (macOS 15.1)
Display: Apple Studio Display (Standard Glass), and two LG 27″ 27BN88U-B Ergo IPS UHD 4K Ultrafine Monitors
Audio Interface: Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt 2
SSD Bay: OWC ThunderBay 4 Mini
Docks/Hubs: Cal Digit TS4 Thunderbolt Dock and CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub
Midi Controllers: Choi Sause Designs Gen 1 100mm Faders, Nektar Impact LX61+

All of it is working fine with Logic 11.1. macOS 15.0 and 15.1 are probably the smoothest macOS updates I’ve experienced so far.

I’ve been using macOS 15 since it was released a few months back. No issues with any of my pro audio and day-to-day apps so far….

My three-year-old M1 Max MacBook Pro feels as snappy and responsive as ever.

I’m still waiting/hoping for some of the following feature requests to be added in future versions of Logic Pro for Mac.

When will we finally get native features like:

Batch Rename – Still Waiting
Track Search – We got it in 11.1
Full CPU Core Utilization – We got it in 11.1 maybe?, still requires more testing
Better Session Navigation – Still Waiting
Improved Nested Folder Support – Still Waiting
Simple Basic Folders that do not create a “VCA” fader that isn’t needed – Still Waiting
24 Hour Session Timelines – Still Waiting
AUv3 Support – Still Waiting
VST3 Support – Still Waiting
Better Large Session Performance – We got this in 11.0.1
Improved Audio Waveform views – We got this in 11.0, but could still be better imo
Improved video engine with support for multiple video files – Still Waiting
Improved Scaling with Automation lanes for all track types – Still Waiting, but may be improved in 11.1 requires more testing
View all MIDI CC lanes at once in one Piano Roll window – Still Waiting

The Good

It’s great to see Logic Pro getting more frequent updates.

Logic Pro updates for the Mac continue to be free. For now…
– In the past I’ve advocated for it becoming a subscription.
– Time will tell

Logic Pro for iPad continues to be a monthly subscription with the following terms: “Get 1 month free, then pay $4.99/month or $49 annually.”

New free Quantec Room Simulator sounds great and is super light on system resources in my initial tests.

Session Performance and overall CPU core utilization seem improved.

Large Session Performance appears to be improved.

The Bad

If you’re on an Intel Mac, even a $10,000.00 + Mac Pro 2019 configuration, you’re out of luck with some of the new features.

The clock is ticking on Logic Pro support for your Intel based system. Time marches on.

The following features are currently exclusive to Logic Pro for Apple Silicon:
– Note: That in order to use the features listed below you must be running Logic in “(Universal)” mode and not “Open Using Rosetta Mode” in order for the Apple Silicon exclusive features to be available on the Mac.
– Stem Splitter requires a Mac with Apple Silicon or an iPad with M1.
– ChromaGlow requires a Mac with Apple Silicon or an iPad with M1.

I expect the list above will continue to expand and in my experience Logic Pro 11.0 and newer installs of the program on Intel-based systems are less performant overall compared to similarly specced Logic Pro 11 Apple Silicon-based systems.

In my initial tests, Apple Silicon based Macs seem to be even more performant after the upgrade from 11.0.1 to 11.1. I’m seeing an average of 10% to 30% less CPU usage overall in sessions created with earlier builds of Logic Pro. I plan to do more testing on this to confirm these initial findings.

Obviously, the Performance and Efficiency core strategy of the Apple Silicon chips is very different from Intel’s Hyper-threading technology found in all recent Intel-based Macs.

Logic Pro 11.1 requires updating your system to macOS Sonoma 14.4 and newer. Continuing Apple’s recent trend of the latest Logic Pro releases only supporting the current and previous years macOS builds.

Things To Remember

New and shiny doesn’t mean you need to update immediately.
If you’re in the middle of a project, time your system/studio updates accordingly.
Back up your current system regularly and often with a combination of the following resources or similar before performing a major OS and/or program update:
Back up your current install of Logic Pro before updating
Duplicate old sessions before opening them in a new version of Logic Pro.
Test the new update with your system before fully committing to it.
Review compatibility guides before updating; see:
- macOS Sequoia Compatibility – The Ultimate Pro Audio Guide
- Apple macOS Sonoma Audio Compatibility For Audio Plugins And Hardware