iPhone 15 Pro Memory Usage in Pro models question

[swandy]

I am upgrading from an iPhone 14 to the 15 PRO so I have no experience using Apple ProRAW on my iPhone. I ordered my 15PRO with 128GB of memory and have a question. I know that using iCloud Photo Library, the iPhone will send the full size versions of my photos (again NOT RAW) to iCloud and only keep smaller versions on the iPhone until I decide to edit them on the iPhone. (The originals are sent to my iMac.) If I shoot in ProRAW, what is kept on the iPhone itself? Does iCloud sent the original RAW to my iCloud Photo Library and again just keep smaller JPEGs on the phone itself? Just want to get an idea on how to manage - if necessary - my photo library on the iPhone with the larger RAW files. Thanks.

 

[swandy]

Nobody has any info? Oh well was hoping someone with a previous PRO model could see how the ProRAW photos are handled.

 

[Rnd-chars]

Have you looked at “Optimize iPhone Storage?” If enabled, it sends the full size version to iCloud whether it’s RAW, ProRes, ProRAW, HEIF, JPEG, etc. and preserves the file format. Regardless of the format, your phone will either keep the original file and format (depending on available size) or a lightweight representation of that file (which is likely a low resolution HEIF behind the scenes, though I haven’t personally checked.) It will use this until you start editing, like you said, and will download the full version.

You mentioned “The originals are sent to my Mac.” Your Mac is still getting it from iCloud, but it would only have the originals if “Optimize Mac Storage” is disabled.

As an aside, while 128GB is technically a variant of non-volatile memory, it’s more commonly referred to as storage. Your phone has 8GB of (volatile) memory.