Snapdragon X Elite laptops have a professional-grade video editor at long last, and it’s completely free
DaVinci Resolve 19 is out of beta and is the first version of Blackmagic’s video editing software to come with native support for Windows on ARM.
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What you need to know
It’s been a long time coming, but Blackmagic has finally released its first version of DaVinci Resolve with native support for Windows on ARM. Having beenannounced way back at the 2023 Snapdragon Summit, Resolve has been in beta for a while now, but that period has ended, and it is now generally available.
DaVinci Resolve 19 is the first version of the powerful video editing software that has been made available with ARM64 support, making it fully compatible with the newCopilot+ PCspowered bySnapdragon X Eliteand X Plus chips.
Crucially, it gains an early edge over its main competition on Windows, Adobe Premiere Pro, where the latter is still yet to be updated with ARM64 support. Indeed, it only recently became useable through emulation on ARM laptops, so on this front, Adobe is lagging far behind.
DaVinci Resolve 19 is, of course, also available for Intel and AMD machines, but the big news is the long-awaited arrival for ARM. Best of all, it’s still available completely free, and not in a shady upselling way, either.
DaVinci Resolve Studio, the premium version, does boast a number of additional features, but as Blackmagic says itself, thefree versioncontains more than you find in some paid software. It’s also available for a one off $295 upgrade fee, no terrible subscription model, here.
It’s also important to note that if you’re using an older Windows on ARM machine, it doesn’t look like you can join in. We tried installing it on a Surface Pro X, and it threw up a GPU error.
This is big, though, for creators using Windows. While Copilot+ PCs using the new Snapdragon chips are still small in number, going forward it will surely grow by some size. The fact that DaVinci Resolve is here now is another tick in the box. This is a serious quality piece of software, and it’s not overselling it to call it a professional-grade application.
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Anyone can download and use it for free, but it really is used by Hollywood. Notable movies, including Deadpool 2, Avengers: Infinity War, John Wick 3, and Avatar, were all edited using DaVinci Resolve. And now you can use that same software on your new Snapdragon-powered laptop.Download it for yourself nowand see what all the fuss is about.
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Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you’ll find him steering the site’s coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon atmstdn.social/@richdevine
