For the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple expanded the recording options when shooting in Cinematic Mode. This article explains what Cinematic Mode is and how to enable the new higher 4K resolution setting at 60 frames per second.
Cinematic Mode utilizes Dolby Vision HDR and a technique called "rack focus" to seamlessly shift the focus from one subject to another when you're shooting video. It does this by locking the focus on the subject in a scene and blurring the background to achieve depth of field. If you subsequently move the camera to center on a new subject or a new subject enters the scene, Cinematic mode automatically switches the focal point to this new subject and blurs out the background.
For example, if you're shooting video of someone and then a second person enters the scene, your iPhone will intelligently adjust the surrounding blur to focus-lock on the second person. It will even automatically switch back to the initial subject if the person's face looks away from the camera, effectively generating a sophisticated professional filmmaking effect on the fly.
You can access the editing options for a Cinematic Mode recording in the Photos app. Simply select the video and tap the sliders icon at the bottom of the screen (it's worth turning your device to enter landscape mode for this). There, among other settings, you'll see an option to adjust the Audio Mix, which has new algorithms that deliver higher-quality voices and can now isolate music.
On iPhone 17 series models, video in Cinematic Mode can be recorded in 4K at 30fps. Apple improved Cinematic mode for the iPhone 18 Pro models, which can record in 4K at 60fps using the feature. The following steps show you how to change to the resolution.
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone 18 Pro.
- Scroll down and tap through to Camera.
- Tap Record Cinematic.
- Select 4K at 60 fps.
Note that a minute of Cinematic video will take up 135MB of storage with 4K at 24 fps (film style) selected, 170MB of storage with 4K at 30 fps (higher resolution), and around 400MB of storage with 4K at 60 fps (highest resolution).
