Technologies

ProRes Log Video on iPhone: What Is It and Why You Should Use It

From how to use it to what it actually is, here’s what to know about using Log video on the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pro.

The iPhone 16 Pro packs an incredible camera setup for both still images and for video production — including its fun 4K slow-motion mode. But to help it capture pro-standard video footage, it also supports shooting in a Log color profile with Apple ProRes encoding, just like the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max did before it. That might sound like a baffling string of jargon (because it is), so in case you’re not a professional video producer, what it all really boils down to is that it allows you to shoot professional-looking cinematic video footage using just your iPhone.

But what do the terms Log and ProRes actually mean? How are they better than your phone’s regular video? And, crucially, should you actually use them when recording your own videos? Here’s everything you should know for getting the best video quality in an iPhone.

Read more: The iPhone 16 Pro’s High-Res Slow-Motion Video Is the Best Apple Feature in Years

What is ProRes?

ProRes is a video codec created by Apple in 2007 that has been widely adopted by video and cinema professionals. Typically found on high-end video cameras costing many thousands of dollars, ProRes files capture more data when shooting, resulting in better quality footage than you’d typically get from a phone or even some dedicated cameras.

What is Log video?

Log (short for «logarithmic») is a color profile found on some professional video cameras and which is now also available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max (along with an increasing number of Android phones, including the Galaxy S25 Ultra). Log footage preserves more image information in the highlights and shadows, allowing for greater flexibility when it comes to editing colors and contrast in post production.

How do you turn on ProRes and Log video?

On your iPhone 16 Pro or 15 Pro, go into Settings, then scroll down and tap Camera. Then tap Formats, and within this sub-menu you’ll see a section for Video Capture. Toggle Apple ProRes to on and below will be the options for ProRes Encoding. Tapping on it will allow you to switch between HDR, SDR or Log.

Bear in mind that while you can toggle ProRes on or off directly in the Camera app, you have to go back to the Settings app if you want to switch from Log to HDR or vice versa. You can shoot 4K footage at 30 frames per second on the phone, but if you want to shoot at 60 frames per second, you’ll need to connect an external SSD drive via USB-C and record directly to that. While you can shoot ProRes footage without Log, you can only shoot Log with ProRes.

Why does Log video look gray and washed out?

Log files straight out of the camera look flat and have low contrast and low saturation. The files are designed to be edited in programs like Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve, where colorists will bring back contrast and color tone according to the look they’re trying to achieve, a process called color grading.

Read more: Best iPhone Camera Accessories for Photos and Videos

The low-contrast look of ungraded footage gives colorists the best starting point to tweak the video image however they want. Log footage always needs to be edited and graded before being used.

How do I edit Log video?

While Apple has yet to implement specific color editing tools for Log footage on the iPhone (which it should), you can get some of the way there using the exposure tools in the ‘Edit’ options in the Photos app. However, you’ll get your best results by transferring the files to your iPad, Mac or Windows PC and editing in dedicated video production apps.

My favorite is DaVinci Resolve by BlackMagic, which is an industry-standard piece of software used in professional productions and Hollywood films. It’s known for its flexibility with editing color, and I loved using it to see what looks I can achieve from video footage from both the iPhone 15 Pro Max and BlackMagic’s own Pocket Cinema Camera.

Resolve is available on Macs and PCs but there’s also an excellent iPad app version. Best of all, the software is free to use on all platforms, with only some advanced features requiring the paid-for Studio version. But anyone wanting to spice up their footage will find the free version more than capable.

BlackMagic has also launched a color-editing panel designed to be used with the iPad. The Micro Color Panel gives fine grain control over color editing in Resolve and allows you to quickly edit your footage using the same pro hardware used on Hollywood movies.

Can my phone shoot ProRes Log video?

Apple introduced the ability to shoot with the ProRes codec on the iPhone 12 Pro, but right now only the most recent iPhone 16 Pro, Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can also shoot in Log.

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Do you have to use the iPhone camera app to shoot ProRes Log video?

No, Apple has opened up this feature to third-party apps. My recommendation is the BlackMagic Camera app, which gives the same level of control over settings as you’d find on the company’s professional cameras. It’s a superb tool for getting the best-looking video out of your phone and, like DaVinci Resolve, it’s free.

Should I shoot video in ProRes Log?

ProRes footage in Log profile is very specialized. It requires additional time in post production to color grade the footage, and the file sizes are many times larger than regular video files. If you just want to shoot footage of your family gathering or your mates at the beach to upload to Instagram or YouTube, then you don’t need to worry about ProRes or Log.

However if you want to use your iPhone 16 Pro as a professional video production tool and you have the time and resources to color grade and edit your footage, then you should absolutely give it a go. The flexibility of recording allows you to get video out of your iPhone that would give dedicated cinema cameras a run for their money, and it makes the iPhone 16 Pro an exceptionally powerful camera for content creators looking to add some professional flair to their videos.

Technologies

Claude’s Research Feature Can Now Spend 45 Minutes Looking for Answers

Anthropic announced better research skills and new software integrations for its flagship gen AI tool.

Anthropic’s Claude generative AI model can now spend more time searching for answers to your queries — if you pay for the right plan.

Claude can also integrate with other apps, including PayPal, Cloudflare, Jira and Confluence, with more expected soon, Anthropic announced in a blog post on May 1. Anthropic also expanded the ability to access web search to include all paid plans.

This year, the AI industry has been in a race for new and more useful features, and research is a big part of it. Google’s Gemini has a tool called Deep Research that is available to all users for free. OpenAI’s ChatGPT Deep Research mode is available to anyone with a paid plan. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

These deeper research tools can search the web and pull together more complete answers to your queries. The AI models will often cite the source of information, although you should still verify it because of the risk of errors known as hallucinations.

Regardless of what AI tool you use, «the thing about this is you’ve got to check the sources. It’ll make up the sources too,» Alex Mahadevan, director of the MediaWise media literacy program at the Poynter Institute, told me.

Anthropic said its improved research function can spend five to 45 minutes finding and reviewing sources. Those sources can come from internal sources — like your own documents or apps you’ve connected — or from external sources it finds on the internet. The model breaks requests down into smaller parts and handles each separately, then compiles a full report.

The advanced research function is available in beta on Anthropic’s Max, Team and Enterprise plans. The Max plan starts at $100 per month. Anthropic said it will soon be available on the more affordable Pro plan, which costs as little as $17 per month, depending on how you pay.

Technologies

You’ll Pay More for Some Xbox Games, Consoles and More Soon

Microsoft is raising the cost of some games later this year.

Get ready to pay more for some Xbox games. Microsoft announced Thursday that it plans to raise the price of some new first-party games from $70 to $80 this holiday season, matching the cost of some new Nintendo Switch 2 games.

Microsoft said the price of games out now won’t increase, so Doom: The Dark Ages won’t see a price hike when it releases this month. The company also said it is adjusting the recommended retail pricing for Xbox consoles, controllers and headsets. «We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,» Microsoft wrote online.

Microsoft’s recommended retail pricing for consoles and controllers is staggering. The company is suggesting an $80 price hike for the Xbox Series S (512GB), the most affordable Xbox console Microsoft sells. That takes the price of the five-year-old console from $300 to $380. The Xbox Series X (1TB) is getting a $100 increase, raising it from $500 to $600. And the Xbox Series X (2TB) Galaxy Black Special Edition now costs $730, which makes the eye-watering $700 price tag of a PlayStation 5 Pro seem reasonable.

Read more: Who’s to Blame for the Rising Cost of Nintendo Switch 2 Games?

The base Xbox wireless controller will have a new recommended price of $65 (up from $60), and the high-end Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 will have a recommended price of $200 (up from $145). Stereo and wireless headsets will have recommended prices of $65 (up from $60) and $120 (up from $110), respectively.

These prices aren’t just affecting gamers in the US. Microsoft is raising Xbox console and accessory hardware prices across the UK, EU, Australia, and the rest of the world. However, the cost of headsets is only increasing in the US and Canada. You could see console and hardware cost increases right now, but Microsoft isn’t increasing the price of Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — the most expensive tier of the gaming service — costs $20 a month but provides you with access to hundreds of games, including new day one releases. With the price of some major games rising to $80, that means you would have to buy four months of Game Pass Ultimate to match the price of one new game. That makes Game Pass Ultimate much more appealing, but there is the potential for Microsoft to raise the price of the service in the future.

Microsoft raised Game Pass prices in 2024 alongside the introduction of Game Pass Standard. But since the company raised the price of the service in 2024, and the year prior in 2023, it’s possible Microsoft will increase the cost of the service later this year.

Again, game prices aren’t going up until later this year, so you still have time to buy games at or below $70 apiece, but you could see the updated console, controller and headset pricing now. For more on Xbox, you can check out CNET’s reviews of the Xbox Series S and the Xbox Series X, as well as what to know about Xbox Game Pass.