How long can an iPhone record a video? It depends (2023)

If you're wondering how long an iPhone can record, the short answer is that there's no set limit, but it depends. Will you be working on a new project shooting with an iPhone? You've already seen the "Shot on iPhone" clips. Now it's time to put them into practice. This guide covers the most important factors when filming with an iPhone and offers a few tips along the way.

How long can an iPhone record a video?

The iPhone is a great camera replacement as Apple focuses on building top-notch phone cameras and providing sophisticated apps for editing. The maximum video length of an iPhone mainly depends on the iPhone model, video fps, resolution, format and other details like available battery.

Storage: One Thing to Consider When Filming with an iPhone

Storage is an essential part of the shooting process as it affects the length of a video. This section covers the various ways to handle storage.

Your available disk space

Internal storage is a crucial factor to consider when shooting video clips. If you don't have 512GB of storage, you'll eventually need additional storage for your device. Android owners can easily expand their storage space; However, the same cannot be said about an iPhone. For example, Androids and many other phones have an SD card slot, but the iPhone does not.

If you're not sure, follow these steps to find out how much free storage your iPhone has:

1. open settings."
   
2. Select "General".
   
3. Tap "About" and look for "Available" which shows the available storage space.
   

stick USB

If your internal memory is not enough, you can opt for pendrives. While not exactly aesthetically pleasing, they make up for it with a good storage function. To use this lightweight accessory, you need to plug it in via the charging port. Many manufacturers do this, like LEEF.

Hard drives connected by WI-FI

Though they won't serve you while recording, you can opt for Wi-Fi connected hard drives to store your recorded videos. Make sure your iPhone is compatible. The advantage of this is that you can even add terabytes of storage to your phone. Downsides are much less portability and a different app ecosystem.

Still, not only can you use this storage option with your phone, but you can also share videos with other devices. This option is especially convenient if you often use a computer and other devices at home.

Cases with memory and battery

Another storage option is cases with additional storage, although you'll need to check if someone makes them for your model. Some cases like this even come with a battery. The extra energy can help during long sessions if you can't find better sources of energy.

Clouds

You can choose to upload your videos to the cloud to free up space for future footage. Apple iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox are just a few of the many alternatives available. They all come with a free and paid version, so it's worth a try.

The resolution can vary the space and duration of a video

Your iPhone can create videos with different resolutions. Lower resolutions use less storage space, so you can expect to create more videos with the same storage space. Hence this trade-off between quality and quantity.

Newer iPhones can record at least 720p and 1080p with ease. Starting with the iPhone 6S series, the next iPhones in the lineup are adding 4K HD resolutions and slow motion recording at 120 and 240 frames per second.

In addition to resolution, the video encoding format also matters when it comes to storage. Devices running iOS 11 use HEVC by default.

To change the recording format:

1. Go to settings."
   
2. Select "Camera" and then "Formats".
   
3. Choose High Efficiency.
   

High Efficiency is short for High-Efficiency Video Coding, HEVC or h.265.

For example, according to Apple, an hour-long 1080p video shot at 60 fps takes about 11.7GB for h.264. HEVC reduces this amount by almost half, that is, to 5.4 GB.

Examples of video durations with different recording options

All of the following recording options such as fps, format (HEVC) and resolution will produce a 12GB video:

• 720p HD movies at 30fps will make a 5 hour video occupying 12GB.
• 1080p HD at 30 fps yields approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes of video.
• 1080p HD at 60 fps delivers 2 hours of video.
• 1080p HD slow motion at 120 fps produces a 1 hour 6 minute video.
• 1080p HD in slow motion at 240 fps results in a 24-minute video.
• 4K HD at 24 fps creates a 1 hour 24 minute video.
• 4K HD at 30 fps results in a 1 hour 6 minute video.
• 4K HD at 60 fps produces a 30-minute video.

Recording times provided are scaled with more disk space, which is proportional and, in the worst case, decreasing. So if you have 24GB, you can expect approximately twice as long as the previous video.

iPhone Video Recording Tips

Check out the tips below to get the most out of your videos.

Use Better Alternatives to Apple's Default Camera App

You may want to produce higher quality videos than the official Apple Camera app offers. In that case, you can choose to use another video recording application, for examplefilm professional, found on the App Store. With this app you can use 50 Mbps, a higher bit rate than the standard 24 Mbps. Note that the higher the bitrate, the more space the video will take up.

lighting is important

Make sure the area you are shooting in is well lit. Light is a factor that affects all mobile cameras. Also, try not to use different light sources, as the camera lens may have trouble matching the different colors each light source emits.

Adjust screen brightness for recording

If you want to record a long session, keeping the screen brightness as low as possible will reduce battery drain. This allows for slightly longer sessions if for some reason you are unable to charge your iPhone while recording.

Adjust your white balance

If you want to make sure your video looks natural and has the right colors, you can manually adjust the white balance. By adjusting the white balance, you get as accurate colors as possible.

Shoot horizontally with a mount and in airplane mode

Make sure you record your videos horizontally in Airplane mode. If necessary, bring a table stand for stability. This combination allows for better video output, saves battery life and increases productivity by eliminating unforeseen distractions.

Grid and the rule of thirds

Use the rule of thirds to frame your production properly. This rule is used on still images and videos. It describes the basic compositional structure of your film. To use it, turn on the camera app's grid for recording.

A good microphone is worth it

Good sound can make the difference. So, if you are not satisfied with your phone's microphone, then you can opt for a quality external microphone to ensure that the sound quality is excellent.

Make sure the microphone is compatible with your model.

Crop your videos to save space

You can always trim any video to get that extra space, no matter what type of video it is. Check out these steps to trim videos on iPhone:

1. Open the video you want to cut.
2. Select "Edit" in the top right or bottom corner of the screen.
   
3. Tap an edge of the video slider at the bottom of the screen. This will display yellow edit handles.
   
4. Drag the editing handles to where you want the video to start and end.
5. Tap Done and Save as New Clip.
   

Film some long shots with the iPhone

Apple certainly isn't shying away from allowing its phones to take vertical photos. For example, the company officially released a five-hour video entitled "hermitage' with the iPhone 11 Pro. This video was shot at continuous 1080p and is 5 hours and 19 minutes long. At the end of the long shoot, the iPhone had 19% battery left.

Still, some people have reported that their iPhone video recordings would occasionally close abruptly. This happened randomly, but only when they were shooting really long movies.

While the iPhone 11 Pro sets an exceptional record for filming on battery power, in practice any iPhone's battery drains much faster when using non-standard apps like Filmic Pro, especially as the phone ages. So it's best to leave your phone plugged in while recording.

What is your longest recorded video so far? What and how do you plan to shoot next? Let us know in the comments section below.