It’s been a busy month for Apple: following the release of the iPhone Duo last week, the tech giant has dropped a major iPad Mini update and launched the next generation of MacBook Pro and iMac with M6 chips onboard.
But that’s not all – yesterday, Apple unveiled the next version of its long-established DAW Logic Pro as part of a broader update to the Creator Studio suite, sharing a feature overview ahead of the update's launch in November.
The headline addition to Logic Pro 13 may be a controversial one: Apple has launched an agentic AI assistant designed to help users make music. Offering users advice and instructions in a chatbot-style interface, the Assistant can control a project by adding tracks, opening plugins and adjusting levels in response to the user's instructions.
The limits of what exactly the Assistant can do aren’t yet clear – Apple has said that it’s capable of helping users “navigate production workflows, start a new song, set up a vocal track from a single prompt, or refine an active project” – but we’re curious to find out whether it can generate MIDI notes or create arrangements out of existing regions on the timeline, for example.
Powered by a combination of AI models from OpenAI and built in-house by Apple, the Assistant will require users to be running macOS 27 Golden Gate or later on an Apple Intelligence-capable Mac. It’ll only be available in English when it launches in beta in November.
Logic Pro’s Browser has been redesigned to make sound selection more intuitive, and is now equipped with an on-device audio analysis tool that automatically analyses, classifies and tags sounds in your library to make hunting down the perfect loop or sample faster and more efficient. It’s now possible to search for sounds with natural language (ask for “heavy techno drums” or “jangly electric guitar”, for example) or even drop in an audio file to discover results that sound similar. Apple has followed Ableton and Avid in adding native Splice integration to the Browser, too.
Apple first brought stem separation to Logic Pro in 2024 with Stem Splitter, an AI-powered tool that can isolate vocal and instrumental elements of a multitrack mix and extract them as stems. Stem Splitter has received an upgrade in Logic Pro 13, and is now capable of splitting drum recordings into six individual stems: Kick, Snare, Hi-hat, Toms, Cymbals and Other.
Not only giving users the ability to isolate individual drum parts, this also allows them to replace a dodgy-sounding hi-hat, for example, or adjust the levels of a snare in a mixed drum recording without reaching for an EQ. It’s a welcome upgrade to a stem separation tool that was already one of the best on the market.
Logic Pro 13 also boasts a slick new look, bringing the Liquid Glass design language rolled out in 2025 to the DAW with its translucent surfaces and rounded edges. The colour scheme is a touch darker, too, making coloured elements pop out a little more.
We’re hoping that Apple implements some substantial, bread-and-butter improvements to Logic’s core DAW functionality alongside its shiny new AI tools
Finally, Apple has dropped another of its Producer Packs for Logic Pro – sound and preset libraries created by prominent artists and producers – from Grammy-winning pianist and producer Sergio George, a leading figure in salsa and Latin music. The pack gives users access to George’s “signature piano sound”, along with a variety of Latin jazz and salsa loops, including a full salsa percussion section and brass ensemble.
Logic Pro 13 signals a clear direction for Apple: the company is doubling down on AI, not only in its music software but across the entire Creator Studio suite. It comes as no surprise, as earlier this month we learned that Apple had acquired Swiss AI music company Samplab, hinting at an expansion of the DAW’s AI-powered functionality.
Logic Pro 11 and 12 were already heavily AI-focused, but 13 goes even further – every new or updated feature detailed above is AI-based. They all sound mighty useful, but we’re hoping that Apple implements some substantial, bread-and-butter improvements to Logic’s core DAW functionality alongside its shiny new AI tools when the full extent of the update is revealed in November.
Logic Pro 13 will be a free update for existing users. New users can purchase the software outright for £199.99/$199.99, or access it as part of a Creator Studio subscription, priced at $12.99/£12.99 per month or $129.99/£129.99 per year.
