Do I need elicencer for Cubase AI 10.5 plus free update to Cubase AI 12?

My wife has bought me Steinberg audio interface which came with Cubase 10.5 plus a free upgrade to Cubase 12.
I haven’t opened either box yet as it’s for my birthday in a month’s time. I’d like to know if the elicenser is usually inside the box, or if not, will I need one? (Do I need to install 10.5 with elicenser and then “discard” the elicenser when I upgrade?

Cubase LE, AI and Elements never required the eLicenser dongle, so you don’t have to worry about that. They all used a software version of the system instead.

The Steinberg Download Assistant will download all required components when run for the first time. Then all you have to do is input your Download Access Code to get started.

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Thanks for that!
I can’t wait to get going so I wondered if I’d need the dongle.

Much appreciated

Hi
Sorry, I’ve just re-read the reply.
It’s actually Cubase Pro 10.5 with an update to Cubase pro 12.
Will I need the dongle?

In that case, the eLicenser dongle will be required to activate the Cubase Pro 10.5 license, which will then be upgraded to Cubase Pro 12 which uses the new dongle-free licensing system.

This does have the upside that you’ll be able to use all past Cubase Pro versions that required the eLicenser dongle if necessary.

The bundles i’ve had and bought on behalf of others all came with dongles, whether it was Cubase Artist, or Cubase Pro. i.e. the URxxx based bundles such as the guitar recording one (artist), production pack (artist), and ultimate packs (pro) I know all have dongles included.

They are really great bundles and brilliant gifts (imo).

Great. That sounds promising! Yeah, everyone should have partners that buy them Cubase. Plus she’s gorgeous. She’s probably just done to get rid of me in my studio though!

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Just one thing though, if I install Cubase 12 on my computer and don’t get on with that version, could I go back to an earlier version?

The installation of Cubase 12 will not delete your previous version, after the installation you will have both releases installed on your machine. So you can still run the previous release instead of Cubase 12, all you need for that is the eLicenser connected to your computer, because the old version still requires it.

Sorry I explained that all wrong! I mean, I have 10.5 with an upgrade to the latest version, but if I preferred 11, could I download that? Even after installing 12?