How to Film ProRes to External SSD, HDMI Out, Mics, and Charge with iPhone 15 Pro

Discover the optimal setup for 4K60 ProRes recording on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. I test a unique USB-C hub to record directly to an external SSD, ensuring no dropped frames. Dive into the challenges, solutions, and the unexpected results that cut recording time to 8 minutes!
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:33 Failed ProRes Attempts
01:27 Best ProRes USB-C Hub
02:03 Installing SSD into Hub
03:02 4K60 ProRes Test 1
03:46 4K60 ProRes Test 2
04:36 Overheating Error
05:36 More ProRes Solutions
06:31 Using iPhone 15 Pro for Video
07:09 Conclusion
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[@poet9831]

Thank you man, very helpful for me.

[@toastedbaglewithcreamchees3177]

Dude, been searching for this information for a long time. Thank you

[@Capt-Cran]

Really appreciate this video … so helpful!!

[@beardfm]

You're welcome!

[@jonbradley4789]

Nice job Stephen!

[@beardfm]

Thanks!

[@scotthills5871]

Thanks!

[@beardfm]

Wow much appreciated!

[@I-am-Joe]

Bought this hub. Can connect my external drive and wireless mic. Works wonderfully with my iPhone Pro Max.

[@beardfm]

Nice! Glad to hear it

[@xianfengyan6636]

That’s a so smart solution!

[@beardfm]

Appreciate it! There are some great new products coming soon too, will do a follow-up soon.

[@fromdonwithlove]

You’re the real MVP. I’ve gone through multiple docks trying to get this phone to do SSD, mic, and monitoring. Add to that ND filters 😅

[@beardfm]

Thanks, and I’ve tested multiple for sure! This is the best I’ve found.

[@ArjenJongeling]

Same here. I even add a matte box, which limits the space around my rig 😬😅

[@AxeDropTV]

This is what i need brother perfect. ❤❤❤❤

[@beardfm]

Glad to help!

[@srinyacharya]

This is great ! exactly what I needed after realizing my sandisk SSD extreme pro was just too slow for prores with apple log. I was exploring USB - CF card reader route but this provides similar write speeds as CF with half the price !!! Thank you sir !

[@beardfm]

Glad it helped!

[@samckatz]

Fascinating

[@beardfm]

It was an interesting experiment!

[@imammarc]

Wow. This is crazy. Gotta try this. Thank you. I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max and when I originally bought the phone I didn’t really intend to use it for doing the video so I got the smallest storage size and of course things changed and I needed to actually use it to make videos and I kept running into issues of where my phone would fill up. Thank you for the solution.

[@beardfm]

Just remember this only works with the iPhone 15 Pro models, but hope it works for you!

[@imammarc]

@@beardfm so if I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max you think it may not work? I guess it’s worth trying. I can always order through Amazon and return if it doesn't work.

[@sailorfitz]

@@imammarc The 14's are all lightning port...not USB-C which is required for this to work.

[@SoGoMTB]

TQ. SUBSCRIBED!!

[@BCE-111]

Thanks Stephen for your video. Lot of useful info. Many of us are trying to sort all this out to see what works best. One thing though is perhaps this hub works well initially, but it has some pretty bad reviews, many about the hub failing after a while. Just bought the same iPhone 15 Pro Max you have. 512GB. Cox Cable is setting up a mobile service. And they've been offering a $500 discount on new iPhone 15s, varoius models, to use the service for a least 2 months before they'll unlock the phone. Wanted a 1TB one too but it wasn't available. Offer expires tonight. I bought mine for $899 vs $1399 plus more tax from Apple. Too good of a deal to pass up. :)

[@beardfm]

That's a great deal for sure! And I've just recently started having some issues with the hub too. My go to now is the OWC Envoy Pro Mini for recording ProRes: amzn.to/3NccItZ

[@debeeldfabriek]

Nice man, but how big is the Rig?

[@evanleyi]

The "dockcase explore 10in1" hub should be capable.

[@ClaudioMacrod]

I’m using the Satechi HUB dock model for iPad it’s has USB C HDMI JACK 3.5 and USB 3.0 it’s very simple but basic work it’s just fine

[@beardfm]

Satechi makes some great hubs! I just couldn't get the built-in SSD to work with the version I tried.

[@AnthonyTilleyVideography]

Did HDMI output work on it at 60 frames per second for longer than it did in this video?

[@sloanNYC]

I've never liked Satechi stuff... having a built-in SSD is so great. Really hope someone makes a power bank with USB-C hub + SSD. Or they could make a UHS-II card reader and drop the SSD altogether.

[@QuangMinhTranFilms]

Thanks Stephen, great video. May i ask which Anker hub you used that caused the frame to drop? Is it the ANKER 555 USB-C 8 in 1?

[@lucianistoc1264]

The performance looks great, about the satechi dock, it seems like it’s only sata m.sata, the ssd you used is nvme (basically pci express) and it uses a slightly different connector which is called NGFF (usually backwards compatible to sata). Great video nonetheless!

[@beardfm]

Welp, that would do it! The diagram in the manual showed what looked like the SSD I had, but as you say, didn't fit 😅

[@Evan_Bier]

Came here to say this.

[@TankTheSpank]

Can you please do the test without charging? This shouldn’t over heat your iPhone in either test.

[@bvance911]

Great video! Any idea if it will work on a standard iPhone 15?

[@beardfm]

Thanks! Everything works on the standard iPhone 15 *except* recording directly to an SSD. But you can still use external mics, displays, and other peripherals. I show that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYO6gpKmoq6FitEsi=PO2vtjK_MfUoRIfV

[@deedev7279]

that Big hub , i think Orico Usb 3.2 Hub 10Gb is better

[@jindrich8372]

I think that the best way is iPhone 15 Pro/MAX with 1TB internal memory. Than I can use a microphone via USB C directly to iPhone. Notice: All HUBs are overheating and burden iPhone battery. BlackMagic CAM app can recording up 4K 60 fps Apple Pro Res to internal memory. This way is the best. Thank you for your video!

[@beardfm]

1TB iPhone would be nice for sure, but the OWC Envoy Pro mini have been really convenient: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpPCpIeoprhpaq8si=zIB51X2OeV3fv8Ls

[@jamesfinney8382]

Hey Stephen, thank you for the great video (and your other great videos!). I had a question, do you know if it is possible to set up the iPhone 15 pro to be able to have an external display, mouse, keyboard, eternal microphone AND then use the camera to make facetime/zoom calls? Appreciate all your dediactionand effort man!

[@beardfm]

Thanks James! And yes, it can do *all* that with one of these USB-C hubs

[@jamesfinney8382]

Thank you for that fast reply! I'm considering buying the 15 pro and seeing if it could totally replace my laptop (I don't use that much on a day to day, however I do do online meetings - this could be a fascinating workaround system). @@beardfm

[@user-rd9kb6ox1v]

So the phone doesn't overheat, that's important.

[@beardfm]

And fast enough SSD / hub!

[@thatphokingguy]

What’s the best way to copy large video and photos from iPhone to a computer? Can we use usbc cable?

[@beardfm]

Yes! I’d use a cable capable of USB 3.0 speeds (I end up using a Thunderbolt cable just to be sure) and you can import directly to Final Cut, or an even faster option is image capture. It’s a built-in utility on every Mac, you can use Spotlight to find it.

[@james.a]

Made my own USB hub case that has HDMI out, Audio, USB-C Charging, and holds an SSD all at once: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGGwaKKep5aXa5o

[@beardfm]

Epic!! Nicely done

[@minghonsiu]

Would the recording automatically switch to record onto local storage when external storage is full? Thank you!

[@beardfm]

No it doesn’t. Just stops the recording.

[@dukedevaiah]

could you please suggest a smaller c-type splitter for iphone 15 pro

[@beardfm]

There's not a ton of *super* small hubs like that, but this option may help: amzn.to/49EY3zZ

[@MikeToillion]

Hi Stephen! Great video, super helpful. I'm hoping to use this hub for my mobile gimbal setup, but will need to run it through a right-angle usb-c adaptor. Do you have any recommendations on adaptors that won't kill the functionality of the hub, since some can be picky?

[@beardfm]

Thanks! And I don’t have any personal experience with those kinds of adapters yet. Sorry!

[@christiannoble1166]

Hi Mike, I'm trying to do the same thing - what gimbal are you using? I have the Hohem M6 with its 400g payload (heard it can bear up to 480g). Have you been able to identify a solution? What hub did you go for?

[@artphotostefanoestefania1927]

hi, great video, can it be used to record video from camera?

[@beardfm]

Like a mirrorless? No I don’t think so

[@TheFandangovideoguy]

hi there...was that Samsung flashdrive fast enough for Pro Res LT-not the highest Pro Res...I have a Samsung SSD to record externally with my 15promax but if a flash drive could be fast enough for PRO RES LT (I don't need the highest quality of pro res but H.265 is too compressed some times)...I know you test a lot of equipment

[@beardfm]

The little Samsung thumb drive SSD still isn't fast enough. This OWC one works great though: kzbin.info?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWJOWFI0b0RScjVTc0owZkdjYjJaMW1CS0lhUXxBQ3Jtc0ttc3oyLVY0Q3RhVUhwSk5GWngzT1N0a19XcUpPWGcxUTZaM3dsNmVzZW5TeGtFODFqNHd3UThPYUNZT2xocUQ1YUV5UjVkMEVZVEY3RWstVWdEVmR2eGFuLWxSaklvOXZSZldoYV8zWGtnd3RRYnhXZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Feshop.macsales.com%2Fshop%2Fexternal-drives%2FOWC%2FEnvoy-Pro-mini%3FDaffiliate%26Dtext%26Dcj&v=xb_sTrqS64M

[@Tyler_Kess]

Would u be able to just download to Icloud?

[@beardfm]

Not sure what you mean? You can save it to the files app and it would upload to iCloud on your phone if that's what you're looking for.

[@patrickshipstad7788]

I bought this exact set-up and it worked great on my initial tests. I got the Selore M.2 SATA NGFF USB hub and the Samsung 2TB 980 Pro 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD. Then the next time I fired it up, I got the red exclamation point hovering on my iPhone record button and it stopped recording. I'm using the BlackMagic app, iPhone 15 pro max. The drive was formatted to APSF. I tried reformatting the drive to EXFat and that didn't help. I'm also powering the hub with a 65W Anker power bank. The ProRes 4k 422 clip dropped frames or would just stop recording after 20 seconds. Now every time I just plug the drive's enclosure into my iPhone I get some sort of error. It sounds like I may have gotten a bad enclosure, as I don't think just plugging the Selore into the phone and getting an error would be the fault of the 980 pro without even spinning up. I was just about to take it out on an important job, so glad I re-tested. I'll try getting another of the same hub and hope it was just a bad hub on the first try, because I really want to like this setup, vs a separate T7 drive and a hub.

[@beardfm]

That’s unfortunate. If you connect to a Mac is the drive still accessible?

[@patrickshipstad7788]

@@beardfm Yes, it loaded up and I was able to do a transfer on and off the drive. I decided to take the SSD out of the Selore and just try it on the phone as a hub only with a T7. I added a power bank to power it and it wouldn't connect, so that's telling me that something probably died in the Selore hub. I re-ordered another setup of the Selore hub and SSD to mix and match and use it to troubleshoot. I'll if it works again, that'll tell me where it went wrong. In the meantime, I'm using a 10gb UGreen hub and the T7 and it's working perfectly. I just loved your solution of a faster drive inside a hub, and consolidating the setup and wires when putting together a full phone cage setup. I'd also love to test that hub and SSD to edit the ProRes footage in FCPX. Thanks again,(love your channel and content!) I'll let you know what I find out.

[@casketman14]

Dude I’ve been trying to get my M.2 to show up and it just doesn’t

[@LG4Eva]

Thanks Stephen for the wonderful tips! My question is can the same thing possible shooting with an iPhone 14 pro ?

[@beardfm]

Unfortunately not, recording to an external SSD is 15 Pro only

[@ArjenJongeling]

@@beardfmoops, that’s not entirely true. I managed to record to a hub that contained a micro SD card with my iPhone 14. I’m using the Blackmagic app though, you can specify the storage in the settings. Not sure if the native app recognises external drives.

[@1964robw]

I bought a 4tb Samsung shield before my 15 max was delivered. If I want to use that and a plug into to tho hub would that work? I realize that I would be giving up the power or the mic.

[@beardfm]

Yes that should work fine. I did it with a Samsung t7 SSD through a hub

[@atoz1466]

Thanks for your video. Is there a way to monitor your audio from the iphone 15 Pro or Max while recording if you were using a ssd ext drive or not and just recording to internal iphone?

[@beardfm]

If you use the BlackMagic Camera app you can at least have meter bars on screen, but there's no live audio monitoring via headphones.

[@DSLRVIDEOTIPPS]

I´m looking for an adapter which will enable the iPhone Pro Max to record on an SSD AND(!) while the DJI Mic records the sound. Possible with Your adapter?

[@beardfm]

Yes it works! I tested with several mics

[@punculis]

THanks for post, question, doe the selore hub need power using p2 ssd inside? I bod two similar Docking Station and no one work with out external power, thanks

[@beardfm]

Yes would require power

[@ISAIASFUENTESS]

I have a question: With the USB-C hub, for the SSD and microphones to work, is it necessary to connect a power source such as a powerbank? Greetings from Mexico

[@beardfm]

Hey there! For SSD and Microphone, you don't need power for it to work. If you're attached an audio interface, some of those may require power.

[@ISAIASFUENTESS]

I had planned to use the usb-c hub with the ssd and the mic rodé wireless go II

[@jeppyeppy]

Hi, so NO power input to the Selore Hub required , if SSD Samsung T7 and Rode Go 2 is connected ?@@beardfm

[@TheMrmicroman123]

@@beardfmHow long will the iPhone 15 pro battery last without an external power source?

[@birkskyum3653]

Is there some cooling for the iPhone that maybe could allow that 4k60 + external display setup? Maybe a magsafe cooler exist or a backbone for mobile gaming with fans could keep it cool and if there is external mic the noise could be non significant

[@beardfm]

As a matter of fact, I test one here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpPCpIeoprhpaq8si=FWEUHW2tm8SREcWR

[@birkskyum3653]

Fantastic, thanks! :)

[@JoeMendel]

Did you try a self-powered monitor instead of an iPad? I wonder if that would solve the phone overheating issue.

[@beardfm]

The hub was powered, but could try that 🤔

[@sloppysteaks]

i AirPlay mirror to my Mac so I can see a big monitor. doesn't seem to effect performance.

[@beardfm]

What's the longest you've recorded like that?? Good idea...

[@sloppysteaks]

@@beardfm probably my 15 Pro film look video which was about a 20 min talking head

[@vincentmisiano8909]

I’m growing frustrated because I bought the identical setup, followed the protocol you described, but using both the camera app and the Blackmagic app I found that the apps would only recognize the external ssd intermittently or not al all. While recording, both apps default to the iPhone storage. I’ve seen another Tuber say that the iPhone will NOT recognize a gen 4 ssd like these. I have no idea what to do now.

[@beardfm]

Did you format the SSD on your Mac? And when you plug it into your iPhone do you hear the hub making any sounds? I’ve heard from several viewers that the hub may be a lemon. If so try to return it and get another

[@Cinebarradas]

Hello, please, I have a question. Is it possible to mount this system with an iPhone 14 pro? Does the usb-c hub work with a lighting adapter?

[@ArjenJongeling]

Yes it does. I’ve tried it and it worked. You’d have to test with the proper speeds and all. You might not have enough speed through the lightspeed adapter for ProRes. But H264 does work. And you need the Blackmagic app for the ability to set external recording.

[@luuk1721]

Stephen, I have a Iphone 11. What if I put an adapter between the hub and the Iphone. (so lightning to USB C.) Will this work?

[@xianfengyan6636]

Lightning speed 480MBPS like USB2.0, USB-C is 85 times faster than lightning. So only iPhone 15 can do this .

[@ivanm2626]

You should look into a magsafe tripod adapter, much more pleasant experience than the clamps!!

[@beardfm]

I have the Moment MagSafe tripod adapter and love it! Only reason I didn't use it here was in case it caused heat issues.

[@mattufford8270]

Hey Stephen, I'm new to all this, and believe I made a mistake. I got a WD Black SN770 NVMe, thinking it would work the same. After much tribulation, it looks like the only way I can get it to work is to power the hub with an external source. I'm going to try a USB-C battery to see if that works. Any other thoughts?

[@KofiBlades]

Once the drive pulls more than 4 watts, the phone won’t see it. So yes, powering the hub will provide the extra power needed for the drive to work so the phone can record to it. Please, let me know how this went for you. I want to know how hot your WD BLACK SN770 runs- does it get warm? Hot? Too hot to touch or it runs reasonably cool? Also, are you able to record without it dropping frame? I want to buy a 2TB drive and I’m not settled between the SN770, the SN850X and the Samsung 098 or the 990.

[@pierdolio]

The Selore USB hub that you have linked to Amazon isn't the one that Selore web site recognizes and Amazon doesn't seem to have it. Please check your recommendations for current accuracy. no M2 capability.

[@beardfm]

Will revise the description, I would recommend this one for now: amzn.to/3VmwWWU

[@MalleaCL]

So.. Finally, did the SSD work for you to record only if it was powered externally from a power source? If you connected the type-c SSD directly to the iPhone (just that), it can't record? min 3:02

[@beardfm]

Did you turn on ProRes video quality? It only records to an external drive that way

[@nocapkevito]

I plugged in a USB drive directly and it ended up recording in pro res, however when I added a thunderbolt dock to the iphone, it did not recognize the same USB. Gonna try out my external SSD with enclosure to connect to the dock and give you an update

[@rishabhjain90]

Will it work with the regular iPhone 15 Model? I dont want to record log or prores, I want to connect a hub, attache my rode wireless me mic and an hdmi out for monitoring

[@beardfm]

You can use the mic and HDMI out for monitoring with a regular 15 model, the only thing it's not capable of is recording directly to an external SSD

[@rishabhjain90]

@@beardfm thank you so much for that! Much appreciated!

[@angelamalhotra7252]

What if instead of using the hdmi out as a monitor to your iPad, you just used apple' screen mirroring function to the iPad?

[@beardfm]

Patrick Tomasso actually does this and he said he hasn't had overheating issues. Although you would need an app to AirPlay to the iPad, where on the Mac you can AirPlay mirror with the built-in feature.

[@angelamalhotra7252]

@@beardfm oh thank you! You're awesome for doing all these tests for us.

[@scotthills5871]

Hey Stephen if I record in 4k 30 will the quality be good enough for video to put online for a training video instead of using the pro log?

[@beardfm]

Absolutely! Several of my videos are that, like my smart home tour

[@scotthills5871]

@@beardfm can I ask you another ? I am doing a self defense online training for mothers and there children and I will be doing videos showing techniques and I am worried about the wide angle to get us all in the video in my garage gym. Will the pro max 15 have enough wide angle as a web cam or would a good webcam be better for that type of videoing?? thanks again and happy new year

[@Evan_Bier]

What’s are the dimensions on that hub? LxWxH and cable length?

[@Evan_Bier]

Also will it write to ssd without external power?

[@jeppyeppy]

4.4 x 1.9 x 0.6 inches ..

[@ThomasLWoo]

The ssd you have linked is a Gen 4 . I thought gen 4 are not compatible with iPhone 15 pro max? I bought the 2 TB and my phone doesn’t recognize it

[@beardfm]

I did have to connect it to my Mac, open Disk Utility, and format it as APFS

[@ThomasLWoo]

So the gen 4 was recognized ? It was recognized and formatted on my Mac to apfs I will do it again when I get back Happy holidays

[@rogeriogomesosorio4755]

The main problem that I see with all the solutions that you can see around the web is the fact that the iphone looses it’s biggest quality… portability. With all that stuff attached the iphone is no longer something that you can take out of your pocket and film with it. So I rather just bring my camera with me (ZV-1 gen II).

[@half_full7687]

Im having issues with dropped frames as well with the USB-C hub from Belkin w/ 4 usbc ports. On the advertising it supposed to support 10gb/s on all ports no matter if one or multiple devices are connected. not sure why this is happening as speed shouldn't be an issue with the hub but it seems that is the only possible explanation. need a second opinion on this if anyone else has used this dock or know it has issues.

[@beardfm]

What SSD have you connected to the USB-C hub? Or does it have a built-in SSD

[@half_full7687]

@@beardfm that would be a Samsung T7, tested the cable and drive by itself just to make sure it works properly without dropping frames which it does. So maybe I got a bad dock idk

[@arnoldsnodgrass2953]

@@half_full7687 This guy had the same issue with the Belkin and found just one of the ports seemed to work right kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqfGhKyVjdpseas

[@evanleyi]

is 128GB sufficient？

[@beardfm]

For the iPhone? If you’re planning on the external drive recording it should be ok. If you can I’d go at least 256 just for headroom

[@lavinchi6709]

👋👋👋👌💫

[@IvanITpro]

This is the second video I’m watching by you and you have to learn how to say things properly - to not confuse anyone. MB is Megabyte and Mb is Megabit. M.2 chip isn’t pronounced M2 chip. The period in the name isn’t silent. Otherwise what you said sounded like the usb-C dongle had an M2 chip that’s in many apple products. Please do your research if you’re not sure.

[@beardfm]

Thanks for commenting!

[@helpmeget100subs]

You are the pro at prores

[@beardfm]

Haha I'll take it

[@helpmeget100subs]

You do need iOS 17.1 update for NVME to be recognized.

[@beardfm]

Oh nice! Will try that once it's out publicly.

[@helpmeget100subs]

@@beardfm don’t worry. You already got the update.