Logic Pro 12.4 Update

Get Logic Pro 12 in the Apple App Store
Logic Pro 12.4 Release Notes

What’s New in Logic Pro 12.4 (Mac)

Logic Pro 12.4 arrived on September 29 with one new feature and a long list of corrections, several of which restore behavior that had been unreliable since earlier in the 12.x line. If you skipped Logic Pro 12.3.1, this one still applies.

Merge Custom Key Commands

The Key Commands Editor now has a Merge Custom Key Commands menu option.

Until now, importing a key command set meant taking that set whole: Logic replaced your own custom mappings with whatever was in the file. Merging combines the two, so you can pull in a preset from a course or a control surface maker and keep the shortcuts you built yourself.

If you teach key commands, this changes what the lesson has to cover. Importing is now a choice between replacing and merging, and students who have customized anything will want the second one.

Takes and Comping Work Again

If you record vocals or anything else in cycle, three corrections apply:

• The Eraser Tool no longer deletes takes on its own.
• MIDI Cycle Recording with Takes works correctly.
• Flattening a Take Folder no longer switches Flex on in the Track Header.

That last one was easy to miss: you’d flatten a comp, carry on, and discover later that the track had picked up Flex. It doesn’t anymore.

Flex Stops Turning Itself On

Running Tempo Analysis in the Smart Tempo Editor no longer enables Flex in the track and region inspectors.

Alongside the Take Folder fix above, this closes the two paths where Flex switched itself on without being asked. Anyone who demonstrates Smart Tempo on a class recording can stop warning students about it.

Two more in the same area: the Scissor Tool works in Flex Pitch, and holding Command while stretching a note no longer aborts the stretch.

Surround Side Chains for Audio Units

Logic Pro now supports surround side chains for Audio Units.

For spatial audio work, that opens up routing that previously stopped at stereo: ducking a surround bed from a separate source, for instance, using a third-party processor rather than only Logic’s own.

Sus4 Chords Show Their Scales

Sus4 chords in the Chord Track now show all available scale types.

The fix is small and the teaching consequence is real: a sus4 chord previously offered an incomplete set of scale choices, which made the Chord Track look wrong in the situation where a student is learning to trust it.

Drum Machine Designer and Step Sequencer

• Undo works when you reorder pads in Drum Machine Designer, and when you edit pads.
• Drum Machine Designer subtrack selection no longer syncs across different songs.
• Saving a Drum Machine Designer track stack as a patch no longer produces missing samples.
• Step Sequencer randomization range fields accept manual input.

Plug-in Manager and Control Surfaces

Audio Unit management gets a cluster of fixes:

• Audio Unit plug-ins stay at the top level of the Plug-in Manager after a restart.
• Canceling an AU scan no longer makes some plug-ins unavailable on the next scan.
• Running Logic in Rosetta mode no longer triggers an AU scan when you return to Apple silicon mode.

On the control surface side, Follow Focused View now works for Audio FX, MIDI FX, and Instruments, and rebuilding defaults in the Controller Assignments window no longer deletes assignments pinned to the project.

Stability and Reliability

This release resolves crashes around undo with Mastering Assistant, reopening complex projects, and enabling Record Arm during playback. Undo is now available in the File Editor.

The Chord Track double-click crash fix appears in both the 12.3.1 and 12.4 notes. If you saw that crash after installing 12.3.1, try it again on 12.4.

Should You Update?

Yes. Merge Custom Key Commands earns its place if you have ever imported a shortcut set, and the take and Flex fixes remove two behaviors that made Logic look unpredictable in front of a room.

Apple notes that these release notes cover both the one-time purchase and the Apple Creator Studio version of Logic Pro for Mac.

Read Past Logic Pro Update Highlights

• Logic Pro 12.3.1 Update
• Logic Pro 12.3 Update
• Logic Pro 12.2 Update
• Logic Pro 12.0.1 Update
• Logic Pro 12 Update
• Logic Pro 11.2 Update
• Logic Pro 11.1 Update
• Logic Pro 11 Update

Your Logic Pro Coach,
Graham