4K ProRes Video Recording on iPhone 14 Pro Still Requires at Least 256GB Model

[funwithstuff]

As a couple of others have already said, this is likely a hardware limitation. On the MacBook Air with M2, where the base 256GB model has only one module and the 512GB+ models have two, the higher storage tiers are faster, because two storage modules can be written to in parallel. If the same setup is used on the iPhone Pro, the entry-level model physically can't write quickly enough to record 4K ProRes, plus it'll fill up really fast.

Keen to see if video quality (outside of Cinematic Mode) has changed with the new sensor, but if a future USB-C phone allows for faster offloading (or, if I'm dreaming, direct-to-SSD recording) that'll make a much larger impact for professional use.

 

[Hkfan45]

And still stuck in 2014 with usb 2.0 speeds as well as their crappy lightning connector.

 

[bLackjackj]

Nonsense. This is a company that is serving its shareholders,

By a potential lawsuit in various countries? In Australia, you expressly cannot advertise a feature, that is not available on advertised hardware. I'm sure many have purchased the phone, believing they get every Pro feature.

 

[nealh]

Well shoot, I forgot about this when I ordered mine.

I had no idea this was the case I went with base 128GB because of have Apple One with 2TB storage. Crap.
This should have been mentioned I would have gotten 256GB

 

[antibolo]

Anyone throwing a tantrum about it was never going to shoot in ProRes to begin with.

 

[Chrjy]

Anyone who’s angry about it was never going to shoot in ProRes to begin with.

You might be right (admittedly a massive assumption) but it's the principle not whether a user intended to or not.

 

[klasma]

iPhone 14 Semi-Pro? Or iPhone 14 Pro Min

It’s the limited edition.

 

[nealh]

There are plenty of customers who don’t care about ProRes video. For them the baseline 128gb model will suffice. No big deal. It does suck when you don’t know about this and just ordered the baseline model. Luckily for them they can return it and buy the 256gb version. It’s really a first world problem imo.

Yes I can return but then would have to wait and reorder. Grrr. This should have been in the keynote

Oops. 4K video recording is still possible just not 4K ProRes format.

 

[geartau]

You highlighted one case based on a very well known director that was clearly used for marketing exposure by filming a movie on an iPhone.

so...not illogicial.

"very well known director", you mean a pro. that's a pro director doing pro things. you're changing your argument now to exclude pro directors with full production budgets in an argument about pro devices...

anyone with an entire budget the size you are referring to would not be buying 128GB devices now would they?

i'm literally pointing out why that would be illogical. thanks for agreeing? i dont know what your point on that is.

In terms of restrictions reference the 128GB and speed, that's another choice made by Apple not a technological constraint.

except there are only a handful of suppliers that can provide enough of those chips and in order for all 128GB users to have a similar experience, one supplier can't provide a much faster 128GB over another or else we'll see complaints like we've seen in the past (notoriously where Apple used LG and Samsung for displays and people complained about LG being inferior).

 

[klasma]

EN: you don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth

Don’t actually know where it is coming from haha

When buying a horse, you would assess its health by looking at its teeth.

 

[geartau]

But did his iPhone come with only 128 gb?

what does that have to do with anything? OP said " If you're a pro, you'll most likely be shooting in 4k."

Steven shot in 4k without Prores. Steven is a pro.

 

[usagora]

The fact that they are selling the base model with 128gb is ridiculous still. Upsell away. Pro device that you have to upgrade to use all the Pro features.

Something tells me that no one looking to buy an iPhone for commercial video production was even considering a 128GB model anyway.

 

[Hkfan45]

Imagine trying to transfer an 800gb prores file (from your $1600 iPhone) to your mac pro using a lightning cable limited to usb 2.0 speeds? Is Apple trying to be considered a joke?

 

[usagora]

Apple doing everything it can to squeeze every penny from its consumers.

This company is ethically corrupt.

You can't be serious. We're talking about a high end smart phone, not a life necessity that Apple is exploiting poor people over. Give me a break!

 

[geartau]

By a potential lawsuit in various countries? In Australia, you expressly cannot advertise a feature, that is not available on advertised hardware. I'm sure many have purchased the phone, believing they get every Pro feature.

it's listed in the tech specs page

 

[klasma]

Nonsense. This is a company that is serving its shareholders, while employing hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Its REASON FOR BEING is to make money for stakeholders

Agreed, it’s a better investment to buy Apple shares than a top of the line iPhone. They pay lousy dividends though.

 

[Chrjy]

so...not illogicial.

"very well known director", you mean a pro. that's a pro director doing pro things. you're changing your argument now to exclude pro directors with full production budgets in an argument about pro devices...

He used an iPhone 7 Plus which was not restricted no matter what GB size model it was. So what's your point? He could have used the a lower GB model if he so chose to and still shot the movie which would not be the case with the 14 Pro if 4K ProRes is a pre requisite.

i'm literally pointing out why that would be illogical. thanks for agreeing? i dont know what your point on that is.

I'm not entirely sure what part you don't understand.

except there are only a handful of suppliers that can provide enough of those chips and in order for all 128GB users to have a similar experience, one supplier can't provide a much faster 128GB over another or else we'll see complaints like we've seen in the past (notoriously where Apple used LG and Samsung for displays and people complained about LG being inferior).

Do you seriously think Apple care what their competitors customers think. If they wanted to provide the necessary speed, they could. With that said, I'm making an assumption that the 128GB is not fast enough, it may well be.

 

[Chrjy]

As a couple of others have already said, this is likely a hardware limitation. On the MacBook Air with M2, where the base 256GB model has only one module and the 512GB+ models have two, the higher storage tiers are faster, because two storage modules can be written to in parallel. If the same setup is used on the iPhone Pro, the entry-level model physically can't write quickly enough to record 4K ProRes, plus it'll fill up really fast.

Keen to see if video quality (outside of Cinematic Mode) has changed with the new sensor, but if a future USB-C phone allows for faster offloading (or, if I'm dreaming, direct-to-SSD recording) that'll make a much larger impact for professional use.

The M2 MBA you are referring to was a choice made by Apple not because it couldn't be fast enough. They simply chose to only use 1 256GB module rather than 2 128GB modules as they did in the MBA M1 which was fast enough.

The storage system on a device can be designed in different ways. If you look at the base variant of M1-powered MacBooks, you will see that two 128GB SSDs power them.

Whereas a single 256GB SSD powers the storage system on the newer M2 MBA.

 

[geartau]

He used an iPhone 7 Plus which was not restricted no matter what

and? the point is that a film crew + production budget used an iPhone and not a big cam, to which you argued was more illogical than using a smaller iPhone to save money while having the hassle of constantly transferring files because of a small storage issue. that i'm arguing is not true. it's not more illogical.

I'm not entirely sure what part you don't understand.

i understood what you said, i just don't see why you're using a point i'm agreeing with as an argument.

Do you seriously think Apple care what their competitors customers think.

i don't know what you mean "competitor" customers.

If they wanted to provide the necessary speed, they could.

agree to disagree. unless you have an article saying otherwise, it's mostly an unknown.

 

[armandxp]

Yeah, last year I cheaped out and got the 128 GB. So this year I went ahead and moved up to 256 GB. Really just want to check out the pro raw video and play around with it, I’ll probably only use it once or twice in the next year but 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[Chrjy]

and? the point is that a film crew + production budget used an iPhone and not a big cam, to which you argued was more illogical than using a smaller iPhone to save money while having the hassle of constantly transferring files because of a small storage issue. that i'm arguing is not true. it's not more illogical.



i understood what you said, i just don't see why you're using a point i'm agreeing with as an argument.



i don't know what you mean "competitor" customers.



agree to disagree. unless you have an article saying otherwise, it's mostly an unknown.

I think you and I are just going to go around in circles. If you believe that what Apple is doing is the right thing....great. I just believe that when someone spends the money on any of the Pro lineup, they should include exactly the same features and not have Apple make assumptions about how someone might or might not use their device.

 

[Shazamadoo]

if you purchase a 128gb iPhone, its very apparent that videography is not in the forefront of how you use your phone, 4k or not.

For those who purchased a 128gb iPhone why do you require the prores codec? what kind of production or post production do you intend to do? Even 256gb is useless.

If it wasn't for the 128gb option people would be forced out of "pro" features that most people want out of their phones through pricing, like the dynamic island 😂.

 

[usagora]

By a potential lawsuit in various countries? In Australia, you expressly cannot advertise a feature, that is not available on advertised hardware. I'm sure many have purchased the phone, believing they get every Pro feature.

Apple clearly states that 128GB models are limited to 1080p at 30fps in ProRes video:

iPhone

Designed for Apple Intelligence. Discover iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17, along with iPhone 16 and iPhone 16e.

www.apple.com

The overview page doesn't even mention ProRes at all.

Good luck with that lawsuit, lol! For people to just blindly purchase a product like this without even reading the specs and then want to blame Apple for that is mind-boggling to me. This "It's never my fault; it's always someone else's, and I'll sue you!" mentality is toxic.

And, again, seriously, who is looking to record in 4k ProRes and even for a millisecond considering the 128GB model? My guess is zero.

 

[Sasquatch420]

As was the case with iPhone 13 Pro models released last year, 4K ProRes video recording on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max still requires a model with at least 256GB of storage, according to Apple's tech specs for the devices.

ProRes video recording is limited to 1080p at 30 frames per second on iPhone 14 Pro models with a 128GB storage capacity. To record ProRes video in 4K at 30 frames per second, a model with a 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage capacity is required.

A footnote on Apple's press release announcing the iPhone 14 Pro models:The lack of 4K ProRes video recording support on 128GB models is likely due to the 4K videos having very large file sizes. Apple says a one-minute 10-bit ProRes video is approximately 1.7GB in 1080p and approximately 6GB in 4K.

Introduced on iPhone 13 Pro models, ProRes refers to a family of codecs from Apple that can compress videos into smaller file sizes with "impressive image quality preservation." Apple says ProRes is designed as a final delivery format for high-quality videos like commercials, feature films, and broadcasts.

ProRes video recording is still not supported at all on the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.

Article Link: 4K ProRes Video Recording on iPhone 14 Pro Still Requires at Least 256GB Model

Storage options aside. If they want bragging rights to have ProRes and Raw then they need to support the bandwidth that goes along with larger file size and storage. That means the latest in WiFi 6 and USB C/Thunderbolt instead they neuter what should be basic and focus on vacuous features. It communicates to me they think little of their customers as pro. Apple's innovation is customer entrapment not capability.

 

[goonie4life9]

All iPhone Pro are equal. Some iPhone 14 Pro are more equal than others.