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Apple Built a Custom Camera With iPhone Parts for 'F1: The Movie'

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Apple developed a custom camera system using iPhone components to capture high-speed footage from Formula 1 cars for its upcoming feature film "F1: The Movie," WIRED reports. The project involved the replacement of standard F1 broadcast cameras with a bespoke module engineered around an iPhone camera sensor and powered by an A-series chip.

apple-f1-camera-unit.jpg
Image via WIRED​


Filmmakers reportedly insisted on capturing authentic driver-perspective racing footage using real Formula 1 vehicles, but the constraints of F1 car design, such as aerodynamics, weight, and safety, made it impossible to mount a traditional Hollywood cinema camera. While standard onboard cameras used in live F1 race broadcasts are suitable for television, they are not designed to meet the visual standards required for film production.

As a result, Apple's engineering team was tasked with designing a new camera system that could meet the technical requirements of Formula 1 and the modern filmmaking needs. The ultimate module does not resemble an iPhone in any way, was engineered to fit into the exact same space as the official F1 broadcast camera modules, and designed to match their weight in order to comply with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations. The unit was also tested for resistance to shock, heat, and vibration, exceeding the durability specifications of standard F1 broadcast equipment.

The module uses the 48-megapixel image sensor from the iPhone 15 Pro, paired with an Apple A-series processor believed to be the A17 Pro. It is able to capture high-resolution video in ProRes Log format, providing the production team with significantly more control over dynamic range and color grading. Apple also integrated a physical neutral density (ND) filter into the lens system, enabling better exposure control in the variable and high-intensity lighting conditions typical of daytime races.

It runs a custom version of iOS with firmware built specifically for this use-case. Apple says that this firmware directly informed new features introduced in the iPhone 15 Pro, including the addition of Log encoding and support for the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) workflow.

Because F1 regulations prohibit onboard radio transmitters or wireless systems, Apple also developed an iPad app to serve as a wired control interface for the camera. Filmmakers were able to connect the iPad to the module via USB-C and adjust recording parameters such as ISO, shutter angle, white balance, frame rate, and start/stop functions as required. The footage was recorded locally on the module and later extracted.

Apple's "F1: The Movie" opens internationally on June 25 and in U.S. theaters and IMAX on June 27.

Article Link: Apple Built a Custom Camera With iPhone Parts for 'F1: The Movie'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/19/apple-built-custom-camera-for-f1-movie/
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Mark my words…with absolute 100% certainty, when Apple releases the iPhone 26 Pro (or whatever they call it) that it will have the same ‘custom’ camera or sensor used for the movie. That will be a marketing tactic to get people to realize what a great image it can produce and that will also help drive people to watch the movie on Apple TV+.
 
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Mark_M said:
It wasn't an F1 car they used... they modified an F2 car.
Source: Me, I was at a race where they did some filming.

View attachment 2521383
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I'm sure they would for most of the principle shots, since it'd be FAR too expensive to have a bespoke F1 car used solely for a film crew. But I could see putting a camera on some of the real cars for some additional interstitial footage, even if it's only from Thursday or Friday sessions. God knows that Williams could use the money.
 
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Apple's engineering team tasked with designing a new camera system for a single movie?

Yes, of course, Apple TV+ isn't a distraction for the company.
 
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Pezimak said:
Considering real F1 cars have had on board cameras from multiple angles at 4K for a few years now I don’t find this that impressive.
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As the article stated, those cameras don’t meet the quality required for film production. If you watch F1 races, you know that the camera quality for in-cockpit shots is not great, even if the resolution is technically 4K when recorded. It’s almost certainly compressed, the dynamic range is quite poor, and it has numerous other issues. Personally, if they’ve improved upon the standard camera, I hope F1 continues to use them to get better broadcast footage.
 
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That is an impressive camera. Amusingly it is so reminescent of the Apple's oringal 1994 QuickTake 100 which had a radical design for its time (with just screen resolution, 640x480 pixels).

I got one directly from Apple for the University of California, Riverside' California Museum of Photography. Here's an amusing article from Peta Pixel:

petapixel.com

The Life, Death, and Legacy of Apple's Groundbreaking QuickTake Digital Camera

Krazy Ken of the excellent technology YouTube channel Computer Clan is back with another camera-centric episode, this time looking at Apple's foray into
petapixel.com petapixel.com
 
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I need that thing lol.
I do also thing they should try partnering with GoPro more, they have stunning tech and camera designs, built specifically for endurance scenarios
 
Somewhere, deep in the skunkworks of Cupertino, there's a 16k, 360 degree, 3d camera using an array of lens and sensor to capture it, an array of processors to do the stitching and an array of SSD to record it all.

When this is released, true telepresence will be available. At that point, the price of the Apple Vision Pro will look like an absolute steal.

I can't wait for the 2030s.
 
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Depends, the most authentic onboard camera for an F1 movie could be the exact one used on TV, just as the right camera to shoot A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood was the one they filmed they original show with. Hollywood needs to get away from the idea that more pixels or more perfect lenses gives you more movie, when often the opposite is the case (uploaded two weeks ago). Indeed, there's a cinematography camera lens book (scroll for reviews) that speaks to how various older lenses had imperfections due to how the lenses were made which created their visual personality, whereby newer and newer lenses are creating a ever more clinical look. Hoop Dreams was filmed on a pixelated, low-budget Sony camera, and is FAR BETTER a movie for it. Movie making is story telling, and sometimes more and better works against the story.
 
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apparatchik said:
Was that the only track and day they filmed the whole movie out of? Could they have also used F1 cars as well? They for example filmed some scenes in Mexico’s GP about 2 years ago…
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They filmed at a lot of circuits (all?). But they would have used the same cars all the way through, for continuity.

Given the budget for the whole film is less than it costs to run an F1 team, and a single F1 car costs between $12M-$20M, whereas F2 is a lot cheaper, it makes sense that they took the lower class cars and "pimped" them to fit in with the F1 paddock.

I heard that the F1 drivers didn't like having to follow Brad, they like to be out in front! 🤣
 
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Mac Fly (film) said:
Depends, the most authentic onboard camera for an F1 movie could be the exact one used on TV, just as the camera to shoot A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood was the one they filmed they original show with. Hollywood needs to get away from the idea that more pixels or more perfect lenses gives you more movie, when often the opposite is the case. Indeed, there's a cinematography camera lens book that speaks to how various older lenses had imperfections due to how the lenses were made which created their visual personality, whereby newer and newer lenses are creating a ever more clinical look. Hoop Dreams was filmed on pixelated low budget Sony cameras and is FAR BETTER a movie for it. Movie making is story telling, and sometimes more and better works against the story.
Click to expand...
Couldn’t agree more.

Exhibit A…

 
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