iPhone 12 Lineup Features HDR Video Recording With Dolby Vision for Vivid Colors - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPhone 12 Lineup Features HDR Video Recording With Dolby Vision for Vivid Colors

by

One of the key new camera-related features of the iPhone 12 lineup is support for Dolby Vision, a professional HDR video format that provides more accurate, lifelike color along with brighter highlights and darker shadows.

iphone 12 pro dolby vision

Shot on iPhone 12 Pro in Dolby Vision by Academy Award winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki

Apple says iPhone 12 models are the world's first devices capable of real-time Dolby Vision video recording — up to 4K at 30 FPS on iPhone 12 models and up to 4K at 60 FPS on Pro models. To achieve this, the devices have a new image signal processor that can take two exposures, create a histogram, and generate Dolby Vision metadata based on that histogram.

Apple demonstrated Dolby Vision on the iPhone 12 Pro during its event this week with a video shot by Academy Award winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and it has since shared behind-the-scenes footage of the video on YouTube.


Dolby Vision support is end-to-end across the iPhone 12 lineup, meaning that users can capture, edit, and play back video in Dolby Vision directly on the devices. Dolby Vision grading is processed live and sustained during editing, which can be done in the Photos, iMovie, or Clips apps on the iPhone, or in Final Cut Pro on the Mac starting later this year.

Tags: Dolby Vision, Shot on iPhone
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Read Full Article • 151 comments
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Read Full Article • 111 comments
deep black iphone 18 pro

Apple Says iPhone 18 Pro Max Sold in U.S. Differs in One Way

Saturday September 12, 2026 3:27 pm PDT by
As noted by Nicolas Lellouche, who writes for the French tech website Numerama, Apple has updated its tech specs pages for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max to clarify which models are equipped with its new C2 cellular modem and where. Apple now says the iPhone 18 Pro has a C2 modem worldwide, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses the chip in every country except for the U.S. According...
Read Full Article • 142 comments

Top Rated Comments

S
samtfischer
77 months ago
It should be noted that Dolby Vision is not an acquisition format, only a delivery format. So whenever you see "recording/capturing in Dolby Vision", it's a little misleading. Dolby Vision is only used to take HDR content and tone map it down to other displays. So basically, whenever a user would share the video.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aaronhead14 Avatar
aaronhead14
77 months ago

Up until yesterday I always thought Dolby Vision = 12-bit. I guess 10-bit + metadata now counts as well.
Dolby Vision can support 12-bit, but it doesn’t have to. Minimum requirements are 10-bit.


It should be noted that Dolby Vision is not an acquisition format, only a delivery format. So whenever you see "recording/capturing in HDR", it's a little misleading. Dolby Vision is only used to take HDR content and tone map it down to other displays. So basically, whenever a user would share the video.
I came here to say just this! It makes NO sense to “record” in Dolby Vision! The entire point of Dolby Vision is to create interpolated HDR-to-SDR trims AFTER the film has been color graded and finished. This is just a strange marketing ploy from Apple, and it encourages people to not go through a proper post workflow. It’s a very bizarre “feature.”
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vipergts2207 Avatar
vipergts2207
77 months ago
Wonder what the reason is for the non-pros only getting 30 FPS.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
mozumder
77 months ago
As nice at it is, it still has the "watercolor" look of a camera-phone, due to all the AI hacks they have to do to get higher dynamic range from a cell-phone camera. That's not going to go away until they quadruple the lens/pixel size. Each pixel is only about 10 bits of dynamic range in its electron well, instead of the 15+ bits you'd get in a real camera.

I wish Apple would just make an interchangeable lens camera, with their amazing CPU/ISP, to allow for a camera with apps you can download from the App Store.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
N
now i see it
77 months ago
But Dolby Vision sounds cool so I want it. And OLED Super Retina XDR sounds cool too so I want that too I guess
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
jcshas
77 months ago
Cinematographer: “These new Camera’s are extraordinary“

Me: “Video’s of my kid’s birthday parties will look so cool with HDR Dolby Vision”

Reality check :)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments