iOS 18 Lets You Edit Video Speed With the Photos App

The iOS 18 Photos app features a new video speed control option that can be used to change the frame rate of your videos after they're captured.

ios 18 video playback speed
Apple mentioned the option to change video speed in post processing when it introduced the new iPhone 16 models, but it turns out it's a feature that's available for older iPhones running iOS 18.

Added in the iOS 18 Release Candidate, the Playback Speed editor can be used to slow down playback speed of a high frame rate video. There are 240, 120, 60, 48, 30, and 24 frames per second options to choose from.

There's always been a feature for adjusting the speed of select parts of Slo-mo videos, but Playback Speed is a separate control. You can get to it by opening up the editing interface for a video, and then tapping on the timer icon at the top right.

Apple's ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro models support 4K 120fps video in Slo-mo and Video modes, and the Playback Speed feature can be used for making adjustments after you shoot a video. From Apple's keynote event:

You can use 4k 120, in Slo-mo or Video mode, and now you don't have to make that upfront decision on frame rate. You can adjust the playback speed after capture. In the new Photos app, there's a quarter speed playback, a new half speed option that really adds a wonderful, dreamy effect, or you can bring it back to normal speed. There's also a 1/5 speed option that corresponds to 24 frames per second playback. These playback speeds are great for easy on the go editing.

iOS 18 with the Playback Speed feature is set to be released to the public on Monday, September 16.

Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...

Top Rated Comments

Bryan Bowler Avatar
19 months ago
It’s amazing how far we’ve come in the past 10 years and the tools now at our disposal!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
19 months ago

So this means you can technically record 120 FPS videos on older iPhones as well by recording in slo-mo.
I've done that before; if you record a slow mo video at 120FPS and then adjust the sliders so none of it plays in slow mo, you end up with a really high framerate video. It's liquid smooth to watch!

Slow mo comes in handy so often. I once recorded a computer screen in slow mo because an error message would appear for a tiny fraction of a second and I couldn't read it. Slo-mo let me read it and figure out what was going on.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
840quadra Avatar
19 months ago

It really is, especially iPhone's camera tech. I started using iPhones for making serious photographs with a 6+. Before that, using a 4 and 5, they just didn't cut it.

Today I'm always looking forward to seeing what the next iPhone brings with respect to improved cameras. Hat-tip to Apple deciding to go down this path!
Agreed,

Shooting RAW on the 13 Pro onward has been great! Video quality is good enough that I have used clips and even interviews from an iPhone for production videos with zero issues. In fact, I have to (sometimes) doctor video from other cameras / Devices in an attempt to match the iPhone.

Also been impressed by Pixel 8 and recent Samsung phone video quality too. Biggest issue with some of them is dropping frames, I rarely ever see that from an iPhone however!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
citysnaps Avatar
19 months ago

Agreed,

Shooting RAW on the 13 Pro onward has been great! Video quality is good enough that I have used clips and even interviews from an iPhone for production videos with zero issues. In fact, I have to (sometimes) doctor video from other cameras / Devices in an attempt to match the iPhone.
Living in Lightroom since the beginning, Apple bringing RAW capture to iPhone was huge and offered a ton of flexibility in post.

I'm curious about Apple's new microphone tech with respect to videos, and how well it works with respect to subject separation and adjustability (especially after capture in post).

EDIT:
Just thinking out loud on the above... With four microphones, I'm wondering if they're doing some kind of adjustable beamforming to facilitate multiple subject separation. Seems like mic separation would need to be large, but perhaps there's some special trickery in signal-processing where ambiguities could be processed out.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
19 months ago

Annoyingly slowing to 24 FPS is only shown as an option for 240 and 120 FPS video. 60 FPS video can only be slowed to 30 FPS, and 30 FPS video doesn’t have the button at all.

So I’ll need to keep iMovie to adjust my drone footage to 24 FPS.
Yes, because those numbers are divisible by 24. Anything else is interpolated and the result is less than ideal.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
citysnaps Avatar
19 months ago

It’s amazing how far we’ve come in the past 10 years and the tools now at our disposal!
It really is, especially iPhone's camera tech. I started using iPhones for making serious photographs with a 6+. Before that, using a 4 and 5, they just didn't cut it.

Today I'm always looking forward to seeing what the next iPhone brings with respect to improved cameras. Hat-tip to Apple deciding to go down this path!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)