Should You Be Shooting Photos in ProRAW on Your iPhone?

Apple introduced the ability to capture ProRAW photos on the iPhone 12, and it’s been a feature of every model since. So what does it do, should you be using it, and how can you get the most out of it?

What is Apple’s ProRAW?

ProRAW is Apple’s take on capturing raw photos on your iPhone. The “Pro” moniker is just Apple marketing, really. The mode captures a true RAW DNG file using your iPhone’s camera sensor.

Typically, a standard HEIF or JPEG photo will only capture some of the sensor information. It’ll snap the picture, and then get rid of anything it deems unnecessary to save space.

This makes editing a JPEG or HEIF photo in a post-production workflow harder since you have less data to work with. Capturing in RAW leaves all the raw sensor data in place (hence why it’s called RAW), so you have more flexibility to edit after the fact.

The Benefits of Shooting in ProRAW

Capturing a ProRAW image has a lot of benefits. For starters, you’re getting a full, true, unedited sensor readout from your phone.

Standard JPEG or HEIF captures apply post-processing the image right out of the gate. For these images, the sensor readout is read by the phone when you click the shutter and Apple’s built-in logic will apply what it thinks are the necessary edits to make it a “good” image. Then, all extra data is tossed.

With a ProRAW image, the raw sensor readout is retained. This means that you’ll have greater dynamic range, greater editing abilities, and a higher-quality image from the start. ProRAW captures a digital negative (DNG) image, which means it can be edited in any professional-grade photo editing software.

One of the biggest benefits of capturing in ProRAW is being able to edit the white balance after the fact. Yes, if your phone somehow manages to mess up the white balance during capture, you can simply change it in editing with a ProRAW photo. This alone is one of the biggest reasons to capture ProRAW instead of standard JPEG or HEIF.

Another big benefit is that you’ll have a much greater dynamic range, which means that you can pull out more detail from the shadows and highlights of the image. While a standard image tosses that extra data, ProRAW keeps it, so you can lower the highlights to recover a washed-out sky. Or, you can brighten shadows to bring out extra information that you might have otherwise missed in the darker spots of a photo.

You’ll also find that shooting in ProRAW on the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro delivers up to 48MP images, instead of just 12 or 24MP images. This means that, when you shoot in ProRAW, there’s a chance for a higher-quality image all around. I say chance because the iPhone still uses on-device AI to determine if it should be a 12MP capture or a 48MP capture.

Using a secondary app like the Pro Camera by Moment allows you to forcibly take the picture in 48MP mode from the main camera, if that’s something you want to do.

The Disadvantages of Shooting in ProRAW

While there are many advantages to shooting in ProRAW, there are a few drawbacks, too. For starters, a ProRAW image might actually look more washed out in the beginning. This is because there is no post-processing applied to the image, as it’s a RAW sensor readout. So, if you want a quick capture to post to Instagram or Facebook, ProRAW might not be the best.

Editing photos doesn’t have to take long. You can use a program like Adobe Lightroom Mobile, Darkroom, VSCO, or any number of other apps to edit the picture. You can even move the photos to your computer and edit in Lightroom CC, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Darktable, Capture One, or anything else that supports RAW image editing. But, most ProRAW photos will require at least some editing to look good.

Another drawback is there’s no Live Photos support on iPhone. Live Photos are a beloved feature by many, allowing you to pick the best capture from a burst, have a little video playback, or any number of other features. Capturing in ProRAW effectively disabled Live Photos for that image.

You’ll also find that RAW photos are significantly larger than JPEG or HEIF pictures. For example, the fence pictures above were 1.9MB for the HEIF file, and 25.1MB for the DNG (RAW) file. That’s over 10 times the size of the image. And, some RAW photos from my iPhone 15 Pro can get upward of 30MB or larger depending on how much data is in the image.

The Differences Between Editing in ProRAW and JPEG or HEIF

Editing is where the differences between ProRAW and JPEG or HEIF really come to light. JPEG or HEIF allows you to edit, but the way in which you edit isn’t actually the same. Sure, you can use the same program, but you’re essentially putting a “filter” over the image.

When editing a JPEG or HEIF photo, your tools are limited in a program like Lightroom or Photoshop. Some tools are still available, but whenever you make a change, you’re basically just adding an adjustment layer over the existing image. This doesn’t change the core image, which means when you try to brighten something, you’re just increasing the brightness of that specific area.

When editing a ProRAW image, things are vastly different. Instead of putting a “filter” of sorts over the image, you’re actually modifying the base image. If something is blown out, there’s a chance you could actually recover what’s in the blown-out area.

Find an area of the image that’s super dark? You might be able to actually recover what’s in the shadows. Is the white balance not right? You can actually change the white balance of the image, instead of just applying a color filter over the top of the image.

There’s just a lot more dynamic range and flexibility to be had when you edit a ProRAW image versus a JPEG or HEIF picture. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself.

How to Enable ProRAW Mode

Enabling ProRAW on your compatible iPhone is quite simple. All iPhone Pro models from the iPhone 12 and newer can shoot in ProRAW. Enabling ProRAW is easy, and can be done in just a few short steps.

To start, simply head to the Settings app on your phone, then search for or scroll down to Camera. Then, navigate to Formats and finally toggle on ProRAW. ProRAW is now enabled!

To actually use ProRAW, you’ll head to the camera app. There, you’ll see a new toggle at the top of the screen that says RAW or RAW Max (depending on which iPhone you have). If RAW shooting is not enabled, you’ll see a line through the button. When RAW shooting is enabled, the button will be slightly bolder and no longer have the line through it.

Should You Shoot in ProRAW?

Whether you should shoot ProRAW or not is a personal preference. I’d say 95% of the time, I shoot JPEG or HEIF on my iPhone 15 Pro. Why? Because it’s good enough for most shots. I don’t want to have to worry about editing a picture just to post it to Instagram or Facebook. Family photos I don’t want to worry about editing before I send to the family iMessage chat.

The benefits just don’t outweigh the cons for me there.

However, when I’m taking pictures for my small business’ website, or if I’m snapping shots for How-To Geek, I typically will flip into ProRAW mode. These are photos I intend to bring into Lightroom and edit later, so I want to make sure I have the most flexibility possible.

File size is also a huge determining factor here. JPEG or HEIF photos on my iPhone 15 Pro taken in 12MP are normally around 1.5MB. Meanwhile, ProRAW pictures can be anywhere from 20-40MB each. While I have 1TB of storage on my iPhone, not everyone does. So, if you’re constantly capturing 20-40MB photos, your storage space can fill up quick.

I can’t tell you whether to shoot in ProRAW, JPEG, or HEIF. However, I can say that if you plan to just send the picture to a friend or family member, ProRAW is likely overkill. Apple’s post-processing algorithms are among the best in the industry (I think) and the smaller file size means less space is taken up on your phone.

If you want the most editing capabilities, however, be sure to enable ProRAW so you can have the most flexibility in your post-production workflow.