Apple just unveiled some new updates with their iMovie video-editing software for Mac and iOS that, among other things, capitalize on the capabilities of their new slew of iDevices and add some pretty major improvements to how the software communicates across platforms.
Both iterations of iMovie are also seeing upgrades to the quality of video that can be edited in projects.
Most notably, iMovie for Mac and iOS are gaining 4K video-editing capabilities, which is especially cool (if not pretty expected) given the stellar updated camera on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. In addition to 4K support, iMovie for iOS version 2.2 and iMovie 10.1 for Mac are also adding support for editing 1080p 60fps footage.
With these latest updates, the experience of editing video through iMovie is growing much more unified across platforms. A person can shoot 4K video on their iPhone 6s, put a rough stitch together through iMovie on their device, and then use AirDrop or iCloud Drive to sync the content to iMovie on their Mac where users can utilize more advanced tools like color correction and green screening to get the video ready for primetime. When a user is done working on a project, they are able to send it to YouTube in its full, glorious resolution or even export to Final Cut Pro for more advanced editing.
Also arriving with the iOS update is support for 3D Touch. The use cases are largely in keeping with the functionality that most other stock iOS apps are showing off on the iPhone, including quick actions from the home screen and peek and pop gestures within a project’s browser.
In addition to optimizing the experience for the new set of iPhones, with this latest release Apple is also getting iMovie ready for November’s iPad Pro launch. Visually, the experience on the 12.9 iPad Pro looks pretty full-featured, replicating the Mac version with some caveats to take advantage of touch controls. Video editors can also utilize the new iPad Pro Smart Keyboard to use key commands to speed up the process of stitching together a video.
Across platforms the interface is seeing some major refinements as iMovie for Mac continues to gather more iOS visual cues. Specifically, iMovie for Mac is gaining iOS’s simple three-tab layout, making the process of searching through media and clips even quicker. The new Project Media section lets you dive into the project you’re currently working on and view all of the related audio, photo and video files that compose it.
iMovie 10.1 for Mac is available as a free upgrade to existing owners and runs $14.99 for new users. Similarly, iMovie for iOS 2.2 goes for $4.99 in the App Store but is also available as a free update to those who already have it.
This isn’t a massive rethinking of the iMovie software by any means, but it is interesting to see the creative experiences grow so similar across iOS and Mac OS X hardware, suggesting that perhaps Apple’s entry-level creative tools like GarageBand may also be seeing even greater compatibility in the future, as well.