Apple’s latest ‘Shot on iPhone’ video is misleading…or is it?
Nov 3, 2023
Alex Baker
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
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Apple just unveiled a Behind the Scenes video showing how they filmed their ‘Scary Fast’ keynote. It’s causing a bit of a stir because the video reveals that everything was shot on the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Why is this controversial, you may ask? I mean, they are trying to sell more iPhones, so it seems natural to show off the capabilities of the product. However, many people have expressed a certain amount of eye-rolling when they watch the video and see just how much other expensive equipment was used to create the final video.
The filming was directed by documentary maker Brian Oakes. “We were able to get the same complex shots with iPhone 15 Pro Max,” Oakes gushes to Apple’s own coverage of the BTS footage. And yes, what the crew achieved is highly professional quality footage and very impressive.
Expensive equipment
However, let’s break it down a little. The crew were obviously well-seasoned pros, and they were using robotic jibs and industry-grade gimbals like custom Spacecam rigs. Those things don’t come cheap.
Additionally, the lighting was at a fully professional level. We all know that lighting makes or breaks a production.
So, ultimately, what is Apple trying to say here? That they can put their iPhone in the hands of great filmmakers who have access to incredibly expensive accessories, and they can make it look almost as good as footage from an ARRI? Except, let’s not beat around the bush; it isn’t as good as footage from an ARRI.
Or perhaps they are saying that with the iPhone, a seven-year-old could shoot professional-grade footage? Oh, except that they won’t be able to because they don’t have $50,000 of lighting at their disposal.
One commenter in a photography SubReddit declared that the only outcome from this publicity stunt is that “the largest PITA this is going to cause for real professionals are mid-level managers thinking that photographers and videographers are “a waste of money because my nephew has an iPhone 15″. But hint: they already think that.”
It’s just a camera
Others disagreed that this was problematic, saying, “The point is that the camera is good enough that you can swap it in for a professional camera in certain situations and can’t tell the difference…the lighting is good because the lighting is good.”
Which is a fair point. At this moment, I think we need to just view the iPhone 15 Pro Max as yet another handy camera device that we can use if and when it suits us. And the footage is going to be great as long as the other components of a shoot are great and well-considered. Just like any camera, really.
After all, as photographers, we’d be the first to admit that a great camera doesn’t necessarily mean great photos. And, well, I might be able to stretch my budget to an iPhone. An ARRI, not so much!
What do you think?
Alex Baker
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
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9 responses to “Apple’s latest ‘Shot on iPhone’ video is misleading…or is it?”
Regardless of what camera or phone they used, Apple would still be using professional lighting, cranes, jibs and drones. The fact that they could take their latest iPhone and showcase and keynote presentation of their upcoming products is impressive to say the least.
I know anyone with an iPhone couldn’t just film the same quality, but anything with even a small budget could take some very good video with the iPhone 15. Kudos to apple for pulling this off.
At end when I saw that it was shot on an iPhone, I immediately wanted to rewatch it again! Impressive.
This is somewhat misleading too. While Apple would use professional lighting for a shoot, the bar they need to hit with an iPhone will be very different from that of an Arri. An Arri is capable of shooting in a lot more challenging environments giving filmmakers a lot more choices on production, so not all of the gear shown in iPhone shoot is really what you need in every similar shoot. You have to compensate for limitations of your gear somewhere else after all
If this was not so, every production will simply use an iPhone, why lug along anything more bulky and expensive. They don’t simply because the overheads are impractical
I don’t see what the big deal is. It shows how it’s about the film maker or camera person not the camera. People do this all the time. There are loads of YouTube videos showing you how you can get pro level content out of the Canon EOS M with magic lantern. This is just essentially a big budget version of “look what this consumer grade thing can do”
I’m waiting to get the iPhone Netflix’s approved.
You guys are wasting everybody’s time
I can guarantee you the average person is not going to wind up with quality like that without all that equipment. The iPhone 15 may have better cameras supposedly than what my OnePlus 10 pro has but I out shoot them all the time. Why? Because I know what I’m doing better than the average iPhone owner.
Apple is trying to say that if you buy their iPhone, you can feel like Francis Ford Coppola. And that’s no lie.
I think it is not a black and white thing for there are gray areas there: They are not lying, it was shot with an iPhone. The thing is that for non versed folks it may give them the idea that they can achieve such level with an iPhone only and will be disappointed when they don’t because of all the missing professional gear.
It’s like with all advrrtising. I never take note of advertising ever. I know what I want and mostly get what I want with months of studying a product I’m interested in. But advertising sing is very helpful, especially for people who don’t take the trouble to do this. There are enough people gullible enough to fall for this type of advertising.