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If you have an iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro, there’s one default setting you need to fix right now

Published Sep 26th, 2019 8:21AM EDT
iPhone 11 Pro Max Review
Image: Apple

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If you had asked Apple fans to be honest a few months ago, they likely would have told you that they were worried about the iPhone 11. So much information had leaked from reliable sources, including the phone’s new design and a bunch of new features that Apple had planned for its 2019 iPhone lineup. Leaks are nothing new, of course, but these particular leaks painted a picture of a new iPhone lineup that really wasn’t shaping up to be much of an upgrade over Apple’s iPhone models from last year. Sources that had almost always been reliable in the past suggested that the design of the iPhone 11 series was going to be exactly the same as the iPhone XR and iPhone XS, but with a big new camera bump. On top of that, none of the new features that had been revealed were terribly compelling.

Fast-forward to Apple’s launch and release of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, and we now know that the early leaks didn’t paint an accurate picture at all. Apple made a number of big design changes on the outside of its new iPhone models, and there are even bigger changes inside. The new 2019 iPhones are sleek, stylish, and incredibly powerful, plus the Pro models offer massive improvements where battery life is concerned. But there’s no question that the stars of the show on Apple’s iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro phones are the new cameras Apple introduced, and that’s where we need to focus for a moment.

The new cameras on Apple’s iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max are jaw-droppingly impressive. Apple had really fallen far behind rivals like Huawei and Google in recent years, but the new camera and accompanying features on the iPhone 11 series make Apple the king once again. The new Night mode feature that Apple stole from Google and made even better is obviously the most talked-about camera feature on iPhone 11 handsets, but it’s hardly the only camera improvement to be excited about.

Something that hasn’t been getting nearly enough recognition on the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro series is the quality of videos that the phones’ new cameras can capture. They’re gorgeous, and it’s all thanks to a number of big improvements that Apple made on its iPhones this year. Improved stabilization and clarity play a big role of course, and there are a few other big improvements at play. Unless you fix a default setting before you start recording videos, however, you’ll never appreciate the full extent to which Apple improved the video quality on its latest iPhone models.

You know how Samsung’s flagship phones come with quad HD displays but they’re set at 1080p resolution out of the box? Well, Apple has done something similar on the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, but with video settings. As noted by a Reddit user in a recent thread, Apple’s new iPhones are configured to record 1080p video at 60 fps out of the box. That’s fine for some people, but if you want the best possible quality then you need to adjust that setting so that you record 4K videos instead.

  1. Open the Settings app
  2. Tap on “Camera”
  3. Select “Record Video”
  4. Change “1080p HD at 60 fps” to either “4K at 30 fps” or “4K at 60 fps (High Efficiency)”

Making that adjustment will set your new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, or iPhone 11 Pro Max to record video at the best possible resolution and framerate. Just make sure you have plenty of available storage on your phone because 4K video file sizes can quickly get very large.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.