I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but I couldn’t find any definitive answers to my question; Do I need my old USB dongle if I upgrade to Cubase 12?
Also, I own Arturia Collection 8 and a few other soft synths. Will they be affected by this in any way? My plan is to have Cubase running on my laptop as well as my Desktop, so to free up a USB slot on my laptop, I was thining of upgrading to cubase 12.
Thank you.
no, you do not need your dongle to run Cubase 12. If you want to run Cubase 10.5 you still need your dongle, also if you own software like Halion 6 and VST Connect you would also need your dongle to use that software. The situation for Cubase 10.5 is permanent, it won’t be dongle free, but for the other plugins and apps that Steinberg still develops the dongle is temporary until the software is updated to newer versions.
About your Arturia plugins, the new Steinberg copy protection should not impact their software or copy protection.
It is no problem to have Cubase 12 on 2 computers, you actually have 3 as the limit. Just make sure if are gonna stop using your Cubase 12 on a computer to use the Steinberg Activation Manager to de activate your Cubase 12 so you have a free spot for Cubase 12 on your new computer
Thank you for the fast reply, glenn. So glad to hear this. No, I don’t run any other Steinberg plugins other than what came with Cubase 10.5. But I’ll keep that dongle in anycase. I’m sure I won’t be running Cubase 10.5 anymore after the switch to 12, but it’s nice you can actually run 10.5 after the upgrade.
Thanks again for the reply.
Hi, does anyone know if we need dongle to run Groove Agent 5 as well? I am looking at possibly moving from GA SE to 5 full.
the latest version was supposed to be “compatible” with the new licensing system, but from what I can tell it still needs a dongle to make it run. I have not managed to move the license to the new system, seems many others have the same issue If Steinberg announced that both Wavelab and Groove Agent 5 would move to the new system on their next update. Wavelab works on the new system, but not GA5
New WaveLab 11 licences are issued on Steinberg Licensing from the release of WaveLab 11.1 onwards. Steinberg is due to open up a migration pathway for existing WaveLab 11 licences in the next few weeks.
Groove Agent 5.1 supports Steinberg Licensing but, as yet, all licences remain on the eLicenser platform (your choice as to whether you use a soft eLicenser or a USB eLicenser). I suspect Steinberg will switch new Groove Agent 5 licences to Steinberg Licensing and open up a migration pathway for existing licences once the WaveLab migration has been underway for long enough to have some assurance that the process is trouble free in the majority of cases. Groove Agent is more complex to migrate than WaveLab because Groove Agent add-on licences also need a migration route to Steinberg Licensing.
ok so if you buy the new license they accommodate you, if you already paid it is not so important 
I find it hard to understand how to move to the new system is so difficult. Is this elicense really that deeply integrated into their code? then I would at least hope this new system makes all their apps more snappy and responsive at least.
Ηι I have lost the eLicenser usb and I have the Cubase pro 10 can I buy and use the upgrade version 12 pro
I think you must have the dongle plugged in your computer to upgrade
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Log in to My Steinberg, and select “Show eLicenser-based products”. Check the lost USB eLicenser with the Cubase Pro 10 licence is showing on your account. If it is, buy a new USB eLicenser, then make a Zero Downtime claim to get your licence back - you go to that same page, click on the ‘eLicensers’ tab, then press the life ring icon next to the lost eLicenser.
Once you have your Cubase Pro 10 licence back, you can upgrade to Cubase Pro 12 in the normal way.
Whilst it might seem a waste to buy a USB eLicenser only to upgrade, this will give you the ability to run Cubase Pro 11 and earlier versions (your Cubase Pro 10 licence would be upgraded to a “Cubase Pro 11 (upgraded to Cubase Pro 12 with Steinberg Licensing)” licence as part of the Cubase Pro 12 upgrade).