Question
Are there any precautions when obtaining or purchasing DaVinci Resolve from the App Store?
Do you have any information on programmatic differences and which one to buy from?
I would like to know before purchasing the paid version of DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Answer
There are two types of DaVinci Resolve: the "Blackmagic version" sold directly by Blackmagic or through distributors, and the "App Store version" sold via Apple's App Store. We will refer to them as "Blackmagic Edition" and "App Store Edition" here, but there is no common way to call them. The "Blackmagic version" is sometimes called the "original version".
| App Store version | Blackmagic version (original version) | |
| Get the program | App Store | Blackmagic official website【1】 |
| License sales | App Store | Blackmagic official website or sold at mass retailers and sites such as Amazon [2] |
[1] Packages sold at mass retailers and sites such as Amazon come with a card containing the license key and the program. However, we recommend that you obtain the latest program from the Blackmagic official website.
[2] Blackmagic Inc. In the case of the official website, if you purchase a single product (other than the hardware bundled version such as Speed Editor), only the license key will be sold, and the license information will be sent by e-mail. The hardware bundled version contains a card with the license key in the hardware. Depending on the timing of purchase, the version of the package may be outdated, but since it is a common license for all versions, the latest version downloaded from the official website can also be used.
The App Store versions of DaVinci Resolve (free version) and DaVinci Resolve Studio (paid version) have some limitations compared to the Blackmagic version.
The only advantage of the App Store version is that you can manage licenses by linking your Apple ID.
Also, I think the biggest difference is that you can choose between "Mac only" or "Mac, Windows, or Linux" usage environment. DaVinci Resolve Studio is allowed to be installed on up to two machines, so if you use the Blackmagic version Standard (paid version), you can install two machines such as a gaming PC (Windows) and an M2 mac with one license.
| App Store version Free version | App Store version Standard paid version | Blackmagic free version | Blackmagic version Standard paid version | |
| Program difference 【3】 | 〇 | 〇 | ◎ | ◎ |
| Right to use official phone and email support that comes with Standard (paid version) | × | ◎ | × | ◎ |
| Right to use Standard (paid version) on other platforms | – | × mac only | – | ◎ Windows mac Linux |
| Right to install Standard (paid version) on the second device | – | 〇 Only macs signed in with the same Apple ID | – | ◎ 2 units available for multiple platforms |
| Standard (paid version) includes the right to use the standalone version of Fusion Standard | × | No Fusion function in DaVinci Resolve Standard is available) | × | ◎ |
| Use of old version | × | × | ◎ | ◎ |
| App Store license management | – | ◎ | – | × |
[3] The functional differences of the programs are described in detail in the following documents. Although it is an old document, it has been confirmed by official support on 2022/07/29 that the current situation is the same. However, I think that there are quite a few people who will be fatal to the functional differences described in this document.
https://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/SupportNotes/DaVinci_Resolve_15_Feature_Comparison.pdf
After purchasing the App Store version of DaVinci Resolve Studio, we have confirmed with Blackmagic that you do not have the authority to use the Blackmagic version of DaVinci Resolve Studio, nor can you make any changes.
2023/10/1 Added an issue where the old version cannot be used in the AppStore version.
#AppStore #DaVinciResolve ♯DaVinciResolve
