iPhone 17 Pro Trick Enables Internal ProRes RAW Open Gate Recording

Smartphone Filmmaking

by Nino LeitnerOctober 3^rd, 2025

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A newly discovered workaround lets iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners capture ProRes RAW HQ in Open Gate directly to internal storage, bypassing Apple’s external-SSD requirement. The method is simple, but it carries serious caveats around storage, heat, and reliability, and it is almost certainly unintended behavior. So iPhone 17 Pro internal ProRes RAW recording is possible – let’s dive in how.

Photographer and YouTuber Jason Vong demonstrated that Apple’s latest iPhones can, in specific circumstances, record ProRes RAW HQ Open Gate internally. Apple’s documentation says ProRes RAW must be recorded to an external drive, yet Vong shows footage writing to the phone’s internal storage with settings preserved after a brief setup step.  

How the workaround works

Connect an external SSD, open Final Cut Camera (version 2.0 was just released, read up on it here), choose ProRes RAW HQ in Open Gate, then minimize the app. Detach the SSD, reopen Final Cut Camera, and start recording. The phone continues capturing with the previously selected settings, writing files internally.

Storage and thermal caveats

ProRes RAW HQ Open Gate is data-hungry. In Vong’s tests, nearly 300 GB of footage accumulated in a single day using Final Cut Camera. Even with up to 2 TB iPhone configurations, that amount of data can create workflow bottlenecks and increase the risk of running out of space mid-shoot. Thermal behavior remains unclear, since sustained high-rate writes typically generate heat and the phone is not explicitly designed for this internal-recording mode.

Likely a bug, not a feature

Apple’s technical specs call for external recording for certain ProRes modes, including ProRes RAW. The fact that this internal-recording pathway exists strongly suggests a software oversight that could be closed in a future update. Filmmakers should not plan productions around this behavior.

We don’t know exactly why ProRes RAW internal recording is not possible on iPhone 17 Pro as ProRes 422 HQ has similar data rates but that has been possible to record internally since iPhone 15 Pro. The reason might be thermal considerations, assuming that ProRes RAW encoding requires more “horsepower” from the processor.

Can I happily use my iPhone 17 Pro for internal ProRes RAW recording now?

If you are experimenting, the trick can be a convenient way to grab Open Gate ProRes RAW clips without an SSD dangling from the phone. For paid work, proceed with caution. Stick to Apple’s documented external-drive workflow until there is official support or clarification that addresses stability, heat, and data-rate constraints.

This is an intriguing discovery that shows how far mobile workflows have come, but would you trust an undocumented workaround on a real-world shoot?