Apple Log is the log video profile on the iPhone 15 Pro and later. It records a flat, grey image that keeps more highlight and shadow detail than normal iPhone video. You turn it on in the Camera settings, and you convert it to Rec.709 afterwards with a LUT or your editor's Apple Log transform.
Most of the confusion around it comes from that second step. The footage is supposed to look washed out off the phone, and it only looks right once something converts it.
What is Apple Log?
Apple Log is a log curve: instead of baking contrast and saturation into the file, the iPhone stores the light it saw on a flatter curve. That leaves room to pull back a bright sky or lift a dark corner in the edit, which a standard video file has already thrown away.
It is the iPhone's version of what camera makers have done for years with S-Log3, C-Log3, V-Log and D-Log. Log footage covers the idea in general; everything there applies here.
Which iPhones record Apple Log, and what is Apple Log 2?
| Apple Log | Apple Log 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| iPhones | iPhone 15 Pro and later | iPhone 17 Pro |
| Gamut | Rec.2020 primaries | Wider than Apple Log |
| Conversion | Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT | Apple Log 2 to Rec.709 LUT |
| LUTs interchangeable | No | No |
Apple Log 2 keeps the idea and widens the colour gamut. That one change is why an Apple Log LUT gets Apple Log 2 colours wrong: the conversion expects different primaries. Check which one your clips are before you pick a LUT.
How do you turn on Apple Log?
- Open Settings > Camera > Formats.
- Turn on Apple ProRes.
- Set ProRes Encoding to Log.
- In the Camera app, switch to Video and tap ProRes before recording.
In Apple's Camera app, Apple Log records as ProRes, and ProRes files are large, so check your storage before a long day. Since its 1.1 update in November 2024, Apple's Final Cut Camera app can record Apple Log as HEVC instead, which keeps the files much smaller.
Why does Apple Log look grey?
Because it was never meant to be watched as it comes off the phone. The flat curve is the extra range, stored where a viewer cannot see it yet. A conversion LUT maps it back to normal contrast and colour, and only then do you judge exposure or add a look.
If footage looks grey after a LUT, the usual cause is a creative LUT put straight onto log. Creative looks are built for converted footage, so they need the conversion underneath. iPhone LUTs covers which Apple Log LUT to use and where the Apple Log 2 one comes from.
Should you shoot Apple Log?
Shoot it when the light is hard: a bright window behind a face, sun and shade in one frame, a sunset you want to keep. Skip it when the clip is going straight to a phone screen today, because standard iPhone video already looks finished and Apple Log adds a step.
| Shoot Apple Log when | Skip it when |
|---|---|
| The scene has bright highlights and deep shadows | The light is even and the clip is going out today |
| You plan to grade, or match other cameras | You will not convert it afterwards |
| You can afford the storage | You are short on space and in the Camera app |
How do you convert Apple Log to Rec.709?
Apply the conversion first, then adjust exposure, then add any look. Final Cut Pro applies Apple's LUT as a camera LUT, DaVinci Resolve has an Apple Log colour space transform, and Premiere Pro takes it as a Lumetri input LUT. Rec.709 LUT explains what the conversion targets.
That is quick for one clip. A phone shoot is rarely one clip: it is forty, shot walking from inside to outside, and each needs the same conversion at a slightly different strength.
How BatchTone handles a whole Apple Log shoot
BatchTone is a Mac app that applies one LUT across a folder of photos and clips. It ships no LUTs, so you import Apple's conversion (or your Apple Log 2 file) once and it stays in the library.
- Drop the folder of clips in, with any HEIC stills from the same day.
- Pick the conversion. A frame from each clip is previewed with it applied, so you judge it on your own footage.
- Lower the strength on the clips that need less; the rest stay put.
- Export H.264 MP4 to a folder you choose. Audio is copied untouched and the originals are never written to.
The iPhone's MOV files go straight in, because the ffmpeg build inside BatchTone decodes ProRes as well as H.264 and HEVC, 10-bit included. It runs on macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon, and the seven-day trial has everything unlocked, so you can test it on your own Apple Log clips before paying.
Download BatchTone free on the Mac App Store
Common questions
Is Apple Log the same as ProRes?
They are separate things. ProRes is the codec that stores the video; Apple Log is the curve the picture is recorded on. In the Camera app you get Apple Log by choosing Log as the ProRes encoding, and Final Cut Camera can put Apple Log into HEVC instead.
Does the iPhone 15 have Apple Log?
Only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus do not record it.
Do I need a LUT for Apple Log?
You need a conversion, and a LUT is the most common one. Editors such as DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro can also convert Apple Log with their own built-in transforms.
Can I use an Apple Log LUT on Apple Log 2 footage?
It will get the colours wrong, because Apple Log 2 uses a wider gamut. Use an Apple Log 2 to Rec.709 conversion for iPhone 17 Pro footage shot in Apple Log 2.
Is Apple Log worth it for social media clips?
For a quick clip posted the same day, usually not, since standard iPhone video already looks finished. It pays off when the light is difficult or you will grade the footage anyway.