The Apple Log LUT you need first is Apple's Apple Log to Rec.709 conversion: put it on the clip first and any creative look after it. Footage from an iPhone 17 Pro in Apple Log 2 needs the Apple Log 2 version, and normal iPhone video needs no conversion at all.
Search for iPhone LUTs and you get two different problems wearing the same words. One is Apple Log footage that looks grey. The other is normal iPhone video that you want to look cinematic. They need opposite advice, and mixing them up is why so much iPhone footage ends up looking worse after a LUT.
Did you shoot Apple Log?
Apple Log arrived with the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max record it too. It is off by default. In Apple's Camera app you get it only if you turned on Apple ProRes and set its encoding to Log. Since its 1.1 update in November 2024, Apple's Final Cut Camera app can also record Apple Log as HEVC, which keeps the files smaller. The iPhone 17 Pro added Apple Log 2, with a wider gamut, and Apple's Final Cut Camera app records it too.
| What you shot | How it looks off the phone | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Standard HEVC video | Already contrasty and saturated | A creative LUT at most, gently |
| ProRes, Apple Log off | Same, just a bigger file | The same |
| Apple Log (iPhone 15 Pro, 16 Pro, 17 Pro) | Flat, grey, desaturated | The Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT, then a look |
| Apple Log 2 (iPhone 17 Pro) | Flat, grey, desaturated | The Apple Log 2 LUT, then a look |
If your clips look normal on the phone, you did not shoot log, and a conversion LUT will crush them. A transform built to expand a flat image is being handed one that is already expanded.
Which Apple Log LUT converts to Rec.709?
Apple publishes an Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT, and every major editor ships the same conversion:
- Final Cut Pro: applied as a camera LUT when the clip is recognised. Apple's notes for Final Cut Pro 11.2 add an Apple Log 2 LUT for iPhone 17 Pro footage.
- DaVinci Resolve: a colour space transform from Apple Log, or Apple's LUT on a node.
- Premiere Pro: a Lumetri input LUT.
Where do you download the Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT?
Apple's own Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT is a free .cube file. It sits in Apple's developer downloads under "Apple Log profile": sign in with an ordinary Apple ID, no paid developer account needed. The zip holds a Log to Rec.709 LUT, a Log to Linear LUT and a short white paper. Apple has not published a separate file for the iPhone 16 Pro, so the same LUT is the starting point for 15 Pro and 16 Pro footage in the original Apple Log. Some 16 Pro users find skin tones need a small correction after it, so check a face before you convert a whole shoot. Download it once, keep the .cube with your project, and load it wherever your editor takes a LUT. How to install LUTs shows where that is in each app.
There is no separate "iPhone 16 Pro LUT" or "iPhone 15 LUT". The camera model does not change the curve; the log format does. Apple Log footage from any of those phones takes the same file.
| Footage | Conversion LUT | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Log, any iPhone that records it | Apple Log to Rec.709 | Apple, free .cube |
| Apple Log 2, iPhone 17 Pro | Apple Log 2 to Rec.709 | Final Cut Pro 11.2 and later, or a third-party file |
| Standard iPhone HEVC or ProRes without Log | None | Already Rec.709 |
Where do you get an Apple Log 2 LUT?
Use the conversion that matches the log you shot: an Apple Log LUT on Apple Log 2 footage gets the colour wrong, because the gamut is different. We could not find an Apple Log 2 download from Apple next to the original LUT. Outside Final Cut Pro, people use third-party Apple Log 2 to Rec.709 files, so test one on your own clips before trusting it on a job.
What Apple Log is covers the format itself, Rec.709 LUT covers what the target is, and log footage covers why Apple Log looks grey in the first place.
Conversion first, look second
This is the step people skip. A conversion LUT takes Apple Log to Rec.709. A creative LUT puts a look on Rec.709 footage. They are different files doing different jobs, and stacking a creative LUT straight onto Apple Log gives the muddy, oddly contrasted result that gets blamed on the phone.
Convert, then adjust exposure, then add the look. Colour grading basics is the longer version of that order, and how to make footage look cinematic covers what the look can and cannot do once the conversion is right.
Free LUTs covers where the usable free ones come from and how to tell a conversion from a look before you apply it.
Doing it in the editor you already have
The mechanics are per editor and all short: Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, After Effects. CapCut is the awkward one, because what it supports is not quite what people expect.
The pattern is the same as every other camera. A GoPro is the same problem with a different flat profile; a drone is the same again.
Where a phone shoot gets tedious
Phones produce a lot of clips. You shoot forty things in a day rather than eight considered setups, and forty clips means forty rounds of import, apply, check, adjust. The transform is identical every time. Adjustment layers help when every clip was exposed the same way, and need unpicking when they were not, which on a phone, walking from inside to outside, they were not.
Plenty of iPhone log footage is never going to a timeline at all. It is going to a client, a folder or a review link, today.
How BatchTone handles it
BatchTone is a Mac app for applying one LUT across a folder. 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, and any HEIC stills from the same day with them.
- Pick the conversion. A frame is pulled from each clip and previewed with it applied, so you judge it on your own footage.
- Pull the strength down on the clips that need less; the rest stay put.
- Export H.264 MP4 to a folder you choose. Audio is copied untouched and originals are never written to.
The phone's MOV files go straight in: the ffmpeg build inside BatchTone decodes ProRes as well as H.264 and HEVC, 10-bit included. The Mac's own hardware encoder does the export, so a shoot is not an overnight job. It runs on macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon.
When a shot deserves a real grade it still deserves a grading application; this is for the other thirty-nine. The seven-day trial has everything unlocked, so you can test it on your own Apple Log clips first.
Download BatchTone free on the Mac App Store
Common questions
What is the best iPhone LUT?
For Apple Log footage, the best iPhone LUT is the conversion that matches what you shot: Apple's Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT, or an Apple Log 2 file for iPhone 17 Pro footage. A creative look goes on after that, because it was built for footage that is already converted.
Does iPhone video need a LUT?
Only if you shot Apple Log or Apple Log 2. Standard iPhone video is already Rec.709, and a conversion LUT will overcook it. A creative LUT, applied gently, is a different matter.
How do I turn on Apple Log?
In Settings > Camera > Formats, turn on Apple ProRes and set ProRes Encoding to Log, on iPhone 15 Pro and later. It records as ProRes, so check you have the storage before a long day.
Is Apple Log 2 the same as Apple Log?
It is a newer version on the iPhone 17 Pro with a wider gamut, so it needs its own Apple Log 2 to Rec.709 conversion. The original Apple Log LUT will get its colours wrong.
Is there a free Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT?
Yes. Apple's Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT is a free .cube download, and Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro also ship the same conversion built in.
Which LUT do I use for iPhone 16 Pro footage?
The same Apple Log to Rec.709 LUT as for the iPhone 15 Pro, since both record the original Apple Log. Check skin tones after it and correct them if they drift. Only the iPhone 17 Pro adds Apple Log 2, which has its own conversion.
Can I use Apple Log LUTs on Android footage?
Other phones record different log curves, if they record log at all. A conversion LUT is built for one curve and is not interchangeable.
Why does my Apple Log footage look grey even after a LUT?
Either the LUT is a creative look rather than a conversion, or it was applied after adjustments that moved the footage away from what the transform expects. Convert first, then adjust.