How To Record 4K Videos At 60 FPS On iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus And iPhone X

Ultra HD recording isn’t new for an iPhone but doing it at the rate of 60 frames per second is a premiere. This feature is included in all 2017 Apple flagships. The iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X are the first smartphones ever that are able to capture videos at these parameters in HEVC format. The High Efficiency Video Coding or H.265 is around 50% more storage friendly than the more common H.264 (MPEG-4) format.

However, no matter how efficient the codec is, 4k video recording in general, and especially at the 60 fps rate, requires a lot of storage space. This is why iOS 11 doesn’t enable Ultra HD filming by default and you will have to manually activate it if you want to use your iPhone’s recording skills at maximum capacity. More, you can also opt for the recording format between H.264 and HEVC. Nevertheless, when it comes to 4k movie recording at 60fps the new H.265 format becomes mandatory!

How To Record 4k Videos At 60 FPS
1. Open the Settings app from the iPhone Home screen.
2. Scroll for the Camera options menu and tap on it.
3. Tap on the Record Video label.
4. Select the 4K at 60 fps option.
Fact: Now simply open the Camera app and swipe-right for the Video mode. Remember that this feature is available only for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X.

How To Select Video Format
1. Open the Settings app once again.
2. Return to the Camera menu.
3. Select the Formats option.
4. Choose the desired capture format: High Efficiency is HEVC, H.265 or MPEG-H, while Most Compatible uses the H.264 codec.
Tip: This option also tweaks the image shooting format. The equivalent for HEVC in photos is HEIF, while H.265 comes with the traditional JPEG.

How Much Storage Space Does 4K at 60 FPS Require?
The 4k at 60 FPS capture option is the most storage savvy shooting mode possible. One minute at this smooth Ultra HD quality requires approximately 400 MB. That’s 4 GB for 10 minutes. Considering that the new iPhone lineup starts at 64 GB, the entry model iPhone 8 is able to offer 160 minutes of 4K video recording at 60 fps. However, you won’t go anywhere near to this estimate because iOS alone and the other must-have apps will eat around 10 GB from your iPhone’s capacity, without you even snapping a photo. The 256 GB iPhone flagship can record up to 640 minutes of smooth Ultra HD videos, that’s more than 10 hours.

iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X Video Recording Resolutions
iOS 11 provides up to six different video capture resolutions. Check them out below and see how much one minute of video costs you in terms of storage space:
1. 720p HD at 30 FPS costs 40 MB per minute and is known as the space saving option.
2. 1080p HD at 30 FPS burns 60 MB per 60 seconds and is the default capture format.
3. 1080p HD at 60 FPS needs 90 MB per minute and is smoother.
4. 4K at 24 FPS takes 135 MB and is the film style resolution.
5. 4K at 30 FPS melts 170 MB per minute but provides Ultra HD
6. 4K at 60 FPS snatches 400 MB and is the smoothest and highest resolution available.
Fact: The given storage cannibalization data is for the High Efficiency capture format. If you don’t enable the storage space friendly H.265 you should be ready to spend almost twice the storage space listed above.

FYI: Although you’re able to record 4k videos you aren’t able to play them at full potential on an iPhone because both iPhone 8 and it’s oversized sibling have only Full HD display resolution. The iPhone 8 Plus has a 60 Hz display that can easily handle 60 fps per second. However its resolution is 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The iPhone X is owning a 2436 x 1125 which isn’t Ultra HD either.