Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro tech specs attach one condition to the phone’s top video mode: ProRes runs up to 4K at 120 fps with external recording. The port that carries it is USB-C with USB 3 at up to 10 Gb/s, and the only cable Apple puts in the box is a 1 m USB-C cable.
Everything else in that chain is unpublished, including the drive, the write speed it needs and the bit rate the phone sends it. This is what Apple has actually stated about recording ProRes off the phone, and what a buyer is still left to work out.
Key facts: what Apple publishes about ProRes here
| Item | Apple’s published figure |
|---|---|
| ProRes ceiling | Up to 4K at 120 fps with external recording |
| Standard recording | 4K Dolby Vision at 24, 25, 30, 60, 100 or 120 fps |
| Port | USB-C with USB 3, up to 10 Gb/s |
| In the box | iPhone with iOS 27, 1 m USB-C cable |
| Storage tiers | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB |
| 2TB price | $2,399 iPhone 18 Pro, $2,499 iPhone 18 Pro Max |
| Bit rate | Not published |
The figures are from Apple’s tech specs and Apple Store pages, and the full price ladder is in our iPhone 18 Pro price breakdown.
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What external recording means in Apple’s wording
Apple attaches the phrase to the 4K 120 fps ceiling and to nothing else on the line. It says the file at that setting is written to something plugged into the port rather than to the phone, and it does not spell out which ProRes settings below that ceiling write to internal storage.
Read narrowly, that is the whole claim: at the top setting the phone is the camera and the recorder is somewhere else. Apple has not named a single compatible drive.
The port: USB 3 at up to 10 Gb/s
Apple lists USB-C with USB 3 at up to 10 Gb/s for both iPhone 18 Pro models, and the same interface figure for the iPhone Duo. Ten gigabits per second divided by eight is 1.25 gigabytes per second at the interface, before any overhead, and Apple publishes no sustained write figure for recording.
Apple also lists Apple Log 2, ProRes RAW and Genlock for these phones on its compare page without publishing a workflow, which leaves the professional end of the feature set described but not documented.
The recording chain, part by part
| Link in the chain | What Apple publishes | What it leaves open |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 48MP Fusion main, 24 mm, variable aperture f/1.48 to f/4.0 | Nothing on this row |
| Format ceiling | ProRes up to 4K at 120 fps | Bit rate and file size |
| Connection | USB-C, USB 3 up to 10 Gb/s | Sustained speed a recording needs |
| Cable | 1 m USB-C cable in the box | Whether it carries the full 10 Gb/s |
| Drive | Not published | Make, capacity, format |
| Power | Not published | Whether a drive draws from the phone |
Our variable aperture explainer covers the camera at the top of that chain in detail.
Internal storage still decides everything else
External recording removes one mode from the phone’s storage. 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120 fps, Cinematic mode at up to 4K 60 and 4K Dolby Vision HDR time-lapse carry no external condition, so they are written to the phone and the tier you buy still matters.
Apple sells four: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, running from $1,199 to $2,399 on the 6.3-inch model and $1,299 to $2,499 on the Pro Max, as our launch-day coverage laid out.
What Apple has not said
- No bit rate or file size for ProRes at any resolution or frame rate.
- No minimum sustained write speed, capacity or file system for an external drive.
- No statement on whether the in-box 1 m cable is rated for the full 10 Gb/s.
- No Apple-branded capture drive, and no price for one.
- No confirmation of which ProRes settings below 4K 120 write to internal storage.
Pre-orders open Saturday, September 12 at 5 a.m. PT and the phone ships on Friday, September 18, which is the earliest anyone outside Apple can test what the port sustains.
