According to MacRumors, and confirmed by two other sources, Apple is now offering FCP 7 (and the entire Final Cut Studio (3) suite) for sale.
You can read MacRumors here.
While only available on an 800 number – 800-MY-APPLE – using part #MB642Z/A – it is good to know that Apple is selling the product again.
I have contacted my sources within Apple to get the “official word” on this.
I’ll let you know what I find out.
Larry
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UPDATE
I spoke with an official Apple spokesperson, who told me that: “As we’ve done before with many end-of-life software products, we have a limited quantity of Final Cut Studio still available through Apple telesales to customers who need them for ongoing projects.”
31 Responses to FCP 7 Back On Sale! – UPDATED
← Older Comments Newer Comments →-
Don B says:
September 2, 2011 at 2:42 pm
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Caesar Darias says:
September 2, 2011 at 3:12 pm
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Leo Hans says:
September 2, 2011 at 3:12 pm
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Tom Ward says:
September 2, 2011 at 4:47 pm
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russtafa says:
September 2, 2011 at 5:11 pm
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Larry says:
September 2, 2011 at 5:31 pm
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Don B says:
September 2, 2011 at 5:34 pm
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Don B says:
September 2, 2011 at 5:49 pm
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russtafa says:
September 2, 2011 at 6:19 pm
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Larry says:
September 2, 2011 at 6:27 pm
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Leo Hans says:
September 2, 2011 at 7:01 pm
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Tom V says:
September 6, 2011 at 10:08 am
← Older Comments Newer Comments →(apologies: the last attempt to post seems to have been scrambled)
@Leo, with utmost respect:
LEO: Mobile Me was a PRE-PAID SERVICE, not a software.
People using Mobile Me will have no support after the deadline.
DON: True, but Apple is giving MobileMe subscribers notice *one year in advance,* providing an opportunity to plan. They abandoned FCS with no warning, breaking faith and leaving good customers scrambling. “Pre-paid” and “service” unfortunately have nothing to do with it.
LEO: in the case of FCP7 you can still work for years if you have the licensed software.
DON: Yes, if you like working on software that’s out of date, underperforms on current systems, and has no future, that’s an option.
LEO: Apple, the mobile company (as you like to call it) still design and manufacture the best software and hardware for desktop and power computing.
DON: Apple *is* a mobile company. Look where their money comes from. And look where it goes: $2B for Nortel mobile patents. $1.39 (estimated) for pro video development. They’ve even stated that laptops are mobile devices and laptops account for over 70% of their computer sales. Mobile is both their future (hope you like Macbook Airs) *and* their present.
LEO: a lot of formerly disappointed people are gradually liking FCPX. Let Apple bring the first update and you’ll see if the future is Apple or Adobe.
DON: I’m happy for anyone who likes fcp-ex. However, isn’t “let’s wait for the first update” what we said about FCP 7? Tell me, what’s the sound of one hand clapping 🙂
Thank you, Larry. Like others, I have decisions to make and money to spend. Timing is so important. It’s helpful to know that it may happen sooner than later.
@Don
Apple has to give Mobile Me users one year in advance because once the service stop working their http://www.me.com/address is going to disappear from the web.
In words of Steve Jobs, Apple is a SOFTWARE company. Whether they are talking about mobile devices, desktop computing or whatever Apple develops, it’s has to be with software and that’s the core of every successful product.
You are mad about Apple, and I understand that, but I disagree with your statements.
Currently FCPX lacks some features I need for my workflow, but I am sure it’s a matter of time to get it and it is related to every big innovation in technology. Always was like that. I still work with FCP7 and Avid MC as before, meanwhile FCPX will grow it’s user base, will fix bugs and will add missing features. You can go where you want to, but remember that if you are going to change your living room it’s alway better to think twice and move things only one time.
In time of changes like this, it’s better to look around and wait before taking desperate moves. There is time enough ahead to switch later.
What a complete and utter debacle the release of FC X has been. This just confirms it and in no way restores my trust in Apple. They have shown their true colours by treating us with contempt. X has so many shortcomings it’s embarrassing. I don’t think they’ll be fixed in six months let alone three or four as some optimists have predicted.
In my opinion, X is standalone software for the all in one DSLR crowd. It certainly wasn’t made with collaboration in mind. Whether Apple can shoehorn those features in is anyone’s guess.
Don,
I do understand your frustrations but you have to face up to the shape of the changing media landscape. I am not sure Adobe CS5.5 will be your salvation, you should maybe take more heed of what Apple are doing.
One example being recording studios of 20 years ago..BOOM along came Protools and the whole landscape changed. I get this feeling this is about to happen in he near future to Post Production as we know it.
An example..My daughter is at University.
This month I am buying her a Canon XF100 50Mbps/4.2.2 colorspace camera. MOST broadcasters would accept this output. She is very very keen to learn Final Cut 10 as most people of her age seem to want to do.
So she still has to learn creating/telling a good story but the whole metric or entry point in to the world of Broadcast has suddenly been lowered in price terms!! Apple I believe have been very astute and recognise this fact and are moving in this direction. We are now going to see a whole new breed of film makers/ some brilliant/some mediocre/some downright awful. But we must face up to this fact of life.
As Larry has often said it is the way they rolled out Final Cut 10 that sucks but that is often the case with marketing departments who can be incredibly stupid. I am just waiting for the imminent update and by then end of 2011 we should start to see the “shape of Final Cut 10”
I believe you should have been more patient and expect to see some UGC from say an iPhone 5 more like an iPhone 6 which WILL be a fact of life then dump that on your timeline!!
BTW..Philip Bloom gives the XF100 the big thumbs up so if it is good enough for him then it is good enough as a starter for my daughter a genuine bargain at the price!!!
Russ, and everyone:
Everyone’s business is different. For your daughter, adopting new technology is easy because she doesn’t have a large investment in legacy gear – or payroll – or older client projects.
I am completely sympathetic to editors who find themselves caught in the middle. It is easy to say: “In a year things will be great,” when we have to meet payroll next week.
I, too, am optimistic about FCP X for the long-term. But we have a rocky road to walk until we get there.
Larry
@Leo
You make many good points. As Larry has said, there’s not one solution that’s right for all and each has to weight things out for themselves. I wouldn’t argue with anyone’s choice of editing tools. I might, however, debate how pros should perceive Apple.
Personally, I’m not “mad at Apple,” but my work life has been unnecessarily disrupted by them failing to tell us their plans to abandon FCS. I now “think different” about Apple with respect to pro apps, and I’d suggest other video pros should, too. Actually, I see this as an opportunity, and I’m excited about the possibilities that come with Adobe.
The numbers tell us that Apple makes their money from hardware. They produce software only to sell hardware. They sell Lion for $29, iLife for $49, iWork for $79 and Macbook Airs starting at $999. Further, 86% of last quarter’s revenues came from iphone, ipods, ipads and Macs, and more of half of that from iphones alone. 4% came from ‘other,’ which would include software. If you look at where their money comes from, I don’t think anyone can call them a software company, in the sense that Microsoft or Adobe are software companies (despite what Apple execs may say).
But along those lines, Steve also once said, “If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing.”
— Fortune, Feb. 19, 1996
Guess what? The Mac’s been milked and “the next great thing” is mobile. FCS is no-more because it’s not driving Mac sales just like they stopped licensing the Mac OS for Mac clones years ago because clones were killing their hardware business. A company that makes its money from hardware is a hardware company. And a hardware company that makes the bulk of its money from mobile devices is a mobile company. And the software that a mobile company creates to sell its mobile products is not FCS. Check out the financial facts at http://bit.ly/pd2VEd
Once again, I wish everyone the very best in whatever course they choose to take their businesses. I’ll continue to buy Apple products, but I won’t trust them with any more of my pro software budget. And to answer my own question, the sound of one hand clapping is what rings clear even though it’s not heard. It’s the “writing on the wall,” and the message “between the lines.” It turns out Apple’s been speaking loud and clear for a long time now. It’s on users to be listening 🙂
@ russtafa
Hey, some excellent points. I just saw the XF100 at a B&H demo yesterday and it’s awesome. And the Philip Bloom review is great and includes some killer footage straight from the camera: http://bit.ly/pQTEha
Again, I don’t blame Apple for “changing everything,” but rather for not telling us what was coming. And I’m really looking forward to diving into Adobe’s suite, although it’s a big trip up a new mountain, but with some great upside — suite-wide integration being a big one.
Your points about the future are very true. We don’t know what it will be, but it will be different. Things will be much smaller, faster, touch screen, thunderbolt — who knows! But that’s the future. My bet is that Adobe will be there, and whatever it is they’ll tell us about it ahead of time, too 🙂
Larry,
In all due respect you miss my point a bit.
Meeting “payroll next week” is a very short term view and one which will last you up to Y/E next April 2012 then you will be out of business anyway!!
I am in charge of some fairly hefty budgets and my WHOLE engineering philosophy has to carry me through minimum a 4/5 year cycle dependent upon loan/HP agreements. I have to make some extremely demanding strategic decisions, sometimes I lose a lot of sleep over this.
Don B rest assured I am not “having a go at you” I am not that rude a person. Merely seen the seeds of destruction that Protools wreaked upon the recording music industry. That used to crash and burn quite a bit under OS9 but matured nicely as a product.
I am very mindful of this and do not mean to be caustic in my approach. I am in my mid 50s buy every new relevant gadget I can. The 20/30 year olds keep “knocking at my door” but do not let them over the threshold. I could have withered and died about 15 years ago but made the big leap in to computing and have never looked back since.
BTW..I DO look after legacy projects myself and even have to boot stuff in to DOS V.6 sometimes so I understand this better than most people.
I hope all goes well for you too DonB and YES I LOVE Photoshop/Illustrator and AE and do understand your frustrations.
Goodness knows, it wouldn’t be the first point I’ve missed…. Thanks for clarifying.
Larry
Apple may earn money from their hardware, but that would be impossible mission without the software developed for that.
Try a MBP without Mac OS, it would be a nice looking crashing PC.
Take a look at AV core foundation of Lion and you’ll discover a lot of cues of build to the future features.
Read Philip Hodgetts’ explanation about why ColorSync is even better than “real” video output in most situations (and for the other people drivers are arriving):
http://www.philiphodgetts.com/2011/09/fcp-x-color-management-secret/
Nobody know what are Apple future plans about FCPX, but time after time they are appearing interesting cues of what’s coming. And it’s seems a nice thing.
Thanks for the heads up, Larry. At first I was excited to hear this, but unfortunately, Apple is charging the full $999 with no discount or upgrade pricing for a dead program. I’m considering saving $5 and taking advantage of the Avid cross-grade promotion.