Apple may be positioning the iPhone 17 Pro as a high-quality live broadcasting camera.

When you watch the Detroit Tigers play the Boston Red Sox on Apple TV+ tonight, you will see something new. Apple is using its new iPhone 17 Pro in the live broadcast, which is a first for professional sports. This is live footage being shot and used in real time, not a pre-recorded segment.

The production team will use four iPhone 17 Pros around Fenway Park to get unique views that bigger, regular cameras cannot easily get. These spots include the home dugout, inside the Green Monster, and a roaming RF cam.

The goal is to film batting practice, player introductions, and the general fan atmosphere. To make sure viewers are aware, Apple will use on-screen overlays to show when footage is from an iPhone.

This is a big statement from Apple and a major step for mobile video. For years, companies like Samsung have run "Shot on Galaxy" campaigns, often with well-made short films. Apple has done the same, such as when it revealed that the 2023 "Scary Fast" Mac event was filmed entirely on an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

While those were impressive, they were made in controlled settings. Now, Apple is using its "Shot on iPhone" idea in a live, unpredictable national sports broadcast.

For creators, it shows that high-quality production is more accessible than ever. For Apple and MLB, it allows for creative and personal camera angles that would be hard to get otherwise, adding to their broadcast improvements like drone shots and umpire cams.

This is a smart move. While an iPhone will not replace telephoto cameras for tracking fly balls soon, it has potential for extra angles.

I am curious to see how the footage looks tonight. In fact, Apple has done this before. During last Friday’s Giants and Dodgers game, iPhones were used in the broadcast of Clayton Kershaw’s last home start. iPhones were used to capture that moment alongside professional equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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