One of the distinguishing features of the new iPhone 13 Pro is the ability to capture video in ProRes, a high-performance format designed for high-quality editing. However, as Apple reported, the feature in 4K will not be available on the 128GB variants.
The company’s official explanation is that to capture ProRes video in 4k at 30 frames per second, an iPhone Pro capable of 256, 512, or 1 TB of storage. Now, although many already suspected it, the reason for this limitation is really known: the size of the files will be enormous.
The concrete data comes thanks to Ray wong, editor of Input, who in his Twitter account has specified that only 1 minute Recording ProRes on iPhone 13 Pro will require 6 GB of storage. This is a huge requirement that makes it clear why the 128GB iPhone Pro models are excluded.
One Twitter user responded by suggesting that it would actually be 4GB. However, Wong was quick to reply that it was apple itself the one that officially told you that ProRes will need 6GB per minute recording at 4K with HDR and 10-bit pixel depth.
ProRes will devour iPhone 13 Pro storage
So capturing 10 minutes of video in ProRes with the aforementioned settings will translate to 60GB. And if the times are raised a little, something like 30 minutes of video, you are talking about 180 GB space required. Really big file sizes.
Video professionals are used to handling storage-critical workflows. In fact, although ProRes is an Apple codec, the company comes licensing it for years for use in third-party professional products.
When support for ProRes recording hits the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max in the fall, owners of these Apple phones will get the ability to capture video in outstanding high-resolution image quality.