Why the final cut pro pricing differences?? Why wasn'T it already a part of the initial MacBook Pro purchase?

Just had a look at that article and there is one glaring error that immediately hit me.

It says you need an Apple account to download the FREE 90 Day Trial but you don't!

You can download it anonymously on any computer . . . even a Windows PC (though it can't be installed on a Windows PC).

Final Cut Pro for Mac - Free Trial - Apple (UK)

There is nobody from Apple here. We are just users like yourself.

I cannot comment on the discrepancies you are seeing but FCP has never been installed on Macs at purchase unless you have specifically asked (and paid) for it.

I would suggest that you don't click on the link you showed but open the App Store from the Applications folder on your Mac.

On second thoughts it appears that the non-official review that you read was by someone living in Europe so naturally their link is for that part of the world.

FCP isn't installed on new Macs because over 90% of Mac buyers don't need it.

iMovie is installed and can do everything most people need.

In addition to what Ian said: any mac user that is savvy enough to use FCP would know that it is only to be bought from the Mac App Store.

(Apple menu)->App Store, search for Final Cut Pro and you get the page for your region. The pcmag link is the responsibility if pcmag.

Anyway, buying an expensive application from some website link could be a risk.

International prices are adjusted from time to time - and in this case, the seemingly large difference can be partly accounted for due to the fact that European prices all include taxes, a practice that is not done in the US: if the price tag of an article on a store is 0,99€ that’s exactly what you pay (not $0.99 plus whatever tax applies in your state).

You can still buy a Mac with FCP bundled. Though it's actually easier not to.