What a beta is
Every feature ships as a beta first. A beta has the new work in it, has passed my own checks, but has not yet been used by hundreds of people on hundreds of Macs. That is what you are for. Expect things to be a little unfinished: a label that is not final, a button in the wrong place, sometimes a crash. When a beta has proven itself it becomes the next release, and the release app picks it up through Check for Updates as usual.
Betas are free to download. They update themselves through the built-in updater, so you only ever need to install one from this page once.
Current betas
The AI rough cut for Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. PowerCut Beta installs as its own app beside PowerCut and opens the same projects.
Download PowerCut Beta About PowerCutWhat is new in this beta
Installing
- Open the DMG and drag the beta app to Applications. It sits next to the release version; both can be open at the same time.
- The beta is signed and notarized like every release, so macOS opens it without warnings.
- Newer betas arrive through Check for Updates inside the beta app. The release app never offers betas, and the beta app never replaces your release app.
- Done testing? Drag the beta app to the Trash. Your projects stay where they are.
Feedback is the point
A beta only earns its release when people tell me what happened. Praise is nice, problems are gold. Anything counts: a crash, a wrong cut, a label that reads oddly, a feature that is missing, a step that took you longer than it should have.
Send feedback to apps@rafaelludwig.com, or from inside the app: Help, Report a Problem. That one pre-fills the version and, if the app ever froze, the report it recorded at that moment.
Most useful in a report:
- The app and beta build number (Settings shows it, or the About window).
- Your macOS version and whether the Mac is Apple silicon or Intel.
- What you did, what you expected, and what happened instead.
- A screenshot or a short screen recording, if there is something to see.
- For PowerCut: the camera or recorder the footage came from, and the project file if you can share it. Footage is never needed unless I ask.
I read every report myself and answer the ones that need an answer. Reports from beta testers regularly turn into the next fix within a day or two.
Before you install: the beta terms
Beta software is unfinished by definition. By downloading and using a beta you accept the following:
- Back up first. Keep copies of your projects and footage before you use a beta on them. A beta may crash, corrupt a project file, or produce an export that differs from the release version.
- No warranty, and no liability. Betas are provided as they are. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I am not liable for lost data, lost time, missed deadlines or any other damage that comes from using a beta. Use it on work that can afford a hiccup, or on copies.
- Keep the release version installed and use it for anything with a deadline. The beta is for trying things out, not for the delivery you cannot redo.
- Features can change or disappear between a beta and the release, and a beta can be withdrawn at any time.
- A beta is not a license. It does not extend, replace or grant a license for the release version, and the 7-day beta trial ends on its own.
- Please keep betas private. Try them, talk about them with me, but hold reviews and public comparisons until the feature ships in a release, where it will be in its final form.
- The privacy policy applies to betas exactly as it does to releases: your media never leaves your Mac, and there is no analytics or tracking.
Page updated 23 September 2026. The version shown above is read live from the update feed, so it is always the current beta.