If you opened your DAW this month and got an update prompt, you're not imagining things. In the first ten days of November, Avid shipped Pro Tools 2026.11 13, Steinberg shipped Cubase 16 57, Apple shipped Logic Pro 13 910, and Ableton announced Live 13 1314. Here's where every major DAW stands, and what matters if you write to picture.
| DAW | Current version | Date | US price, as of Nov 15, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro Tools | 2026.11 | Early Nov 13 | Annual subscriptions; see Avid's Pro Tools page 4 |
| Cubase | 16 | Nov 4 57 | See Steinberg's Cubase shop 8 |
| Logic Pro | 13.0 | Nov 5 1011 | $199.99 one-time, or Apple Creator Studio at $12.99/month or $129/year, per Apple 12 |
| Ableton Live | 12 (13 announced) | Nov 10 1314 | Live 12 Intro $79, Standard $279, Suite $599 (20% off $99, $349 and $749) until Live 13 ships, per Ableton 16 |
Pro Tools 2026.11: Extensions and MPE
The update introduces Extensions, a new plug-in format separate from AAX that isn't tied to individual tracks and stays available without a session open 12. The first wave includes Avid's own Stem Separator plus tools from Pro Sound Effects, Soundly, Forte and Pibox, and the Splice and SoundFlow integrations from 2025 now run as Extensions too 123. For composers, the other headline is MPE: with compatible controllers and instruments, each note in a chord can carry its own pitch bend, pressure and timbre, and Pro Tools can record, edit and automate that data in expression lanes 12. Windows users get native high-DPI support with per-display scaling 13. The update is available to subscribers, to perpetual-license holders with an active Upgrade Plan, and to Pro Tools Intro users 13.
Cubase 16: deeper MIDI 2.0 and six-stem separation
Cubase 16 expands MIDI 2.0 support 67. Instrument Stacks, in Pro and Artist, layer several VST instruments, Sampler Tracks and Drum Tracks into one playable instrument 67. Pro gets 16 audio sends per channel instead of eight, and Control Room cue sends go from four to eight 67. Video can now go to more than one display at once 67. The Key Editor gains Strum, Stretch Selection and Lyrics entry, and Omnivocal Basic adds vocal synthesis 67. Stem separation, in Pro, now splits six stems: vocals, drums, bass, piano, guitar and other 67.
Logic Pro 13: a new browser and a new design
Logic 13 adds a Unified Browser that puts loops, one-shots, patches and plug-in presets in one place 1011. Logic analyzes and tags custom and third-party sounds, and Apple's notes say you can add your own sample folders as browser locations 9. There's also a new Play Surface window with drum pads, chord strips and an on-screen keyboard, multi-touch control from an iPad over Sidecar, Step Sequencer multi-select and a Liquid Glass redesign 910. The enhanced Stem Splitter can split a drum stem into kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, cymbals and other percussion 910. One catch: the new Intelligent Assistant beta requires a Creator Studio subscription, a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 27 or later, so it isn't in the one-time purchase version 910.
Live 13: ARA 2 at last
Ableton's update isn't out yet. Live 13 is set for early 2027, with a public beta open now 1314. Live 13 adds ARA 2 support, so plug-ins like Melodyne can edit pitch and timing inside Live, and Live 13 Suite includes Melodyne Essential 1314. Racks expand to 32 Macros that can double as modulators, and Capture Automation records knob moves as editable automation after the fact 1315. Until Live 13 ships, every Live 12 edition is 20 percent off and comes with a free upgrade to the matching Live 13 edition 1316.
For producers and beatmakers
This cycle wasn't only for orchestral writers. Live 13's new Step Sequencer gives each row its own length and playback settings, with per-step velocity, chance and repeat, and Live 13 adds Drum Synth, a new percussion instrument 1315. Logic 13's Play Surface puts drum pads, chord strips and a keyboard in one window, and its Step Sequencer now edits multiple steps at once 910. Cubase 16 brings Ableton Link for tempo and transport sync with other apps and devices 67. Pro Tools now supports MPE controllers with compatible instruments 12.
The common thread
Three of the four headline releases this month include stem separation news: Avid's new Stem Separator, Cubase's six-stem upgrade and Logic's drum split 169. We broke that down separately in our stem separation analysis, and the tools around the DAW are in our film scoring software stack guide.
Correction, Nov 15, 2026: an earlier version quoted Pro Tools and Cubase 16 prices from trade reports; we've removed them because Avid's and Steinberg's own pages showed no prices when we checked, and we now link to those pages instead. Logic and Ableton prices were re-verified on Apple's and Ableton's own pages as of Nov 15. Facts previously sourced only to Production Expert now come from the makers or other trade reports, and details we couldn't confirm there were cut.