VideoBro / Tools / Video storage calculator
iPhone Video Storage Calculator: 4K, 1080p, 30 & 60 FPS
Pick your iPhone's Record Video settings and say how long you'll film. See the size, what fits, and how a crew splits a tape.
Your footage
2.9 GB
45 min in 1080p HD at 30 fps, High Efficiency with HDR
- One minute
- 65 MB
- One hour
- 3.9 GB
- To send
- 16 minat 25 Mbps, a typical upload
The same footage at every setting
Apple's own estimates, from the line under Settings Camera Record Video. A busy, bright scene runs a little larger; a still one, smaller.
Filming with a crew? Split the tape.
A VideoBro tape holds up to 2 hours of footage and up to 8 people, including you. Nobody is rationed, so this is just the arithmetic.
2 h on the tape
A full 2-hour tape, exactly.
At 20 seconds a clip, that's about 45 clips each.
On the owner's shelf: that's more than a free shelf holds at once. The free shelf is 2 GB, about an hour of footage. Split it over two tapes, or develop the first before the second fills up.
- Whose space it uses: everything on a tape counts against the space of the person who started it, including the clips other people add. Joining someone else's tape uses none of yours.
- After Develop: the tape counts only its finished film, which is usually smaller than the clips that went into it. Developing tends to free up room.
- Past 2 hours: the tape is full and the app says so. Start a second one; you can keep several tapes going at once.
The cheat sheet
Apple's estimate for one minute at each setting, and what an hour comes to. High Efficiency is HEVC. Most Compatible is H.264, which is about twice the size.
| Setting | High Efficiency | With HDR | Most Compatible | One hour, High Efficiency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 720p HD at 30 fps | 40 MB | n/a | 60 MB | 2.4 GB |
| 1080p HD at 30 fps | 60 MB | 65 MB | 130 MB | 3.6 GB |
| 1080p HD at 60 fps | 90 MB | 100 MB | 175 MB | 5.4 GB |
| 4K at 24 fps | 135 MB | 150 MB | 270 MB | 8.1 GB |
| 4K at 30 fps | 170 MB | 190 MB | 350 MB | 10.2 GB |
| 4K at 60 fps | 400 MB | 440 MB | 400 MB | 24 GB |
| Slo-mo, 1080p HD at 120 fps | 170 MB | n/a | n/a | 10.2 GB |
| Slo-mo, 1080p HD at 240 fps | 480 MB | n/a | n/a | 28.8 GB |
| ProRes, 1080p HD at 30 fps | 1.7 GB | n/a | n/a | 102 GB |
| ProRes, 4K at 30 fpsPro models, 256 GB and up | 6 GB | n/a | n/a | 360 GB |
| ProRes, 4K at 60 fpsPro models, to an external drive | 12 GB | n/a | n/a | 720 GB |
On VideoBro, the setting barely matters.
What lands on your shelf is VideoBro's converted copy, not the file your iPhone wrote.
VideoBro converts every clip for the tape, so a minute shot at 4K, 60 fps and a minute shot at 1080p, 30 fps end up costing about the same. Shoot in whatever setting you like the look of.
The free shelf is 2 GB, about an hour of footage. The meter in your Profile is the one number to watch, and when it fills nothing is deleted: new clips simply wait until you make room. Once a tape is developed it counts only its finished film, which is usually smaller than the clips that went into it, so developing tends to free up room rather than use it.
Questions people ask first
How much space does a minute of 4K video take on an iPhone?
Apple's own estimate is 170 MB a minute at 4K, 30 fps with High Efficiency, and 400 MB at 60 fps. With HDR on it's 190 MB and 440 MB. Most Compatible (H.264) roughly doubles the 30 fps figures. A busy, bright scene runs a little larger and a still one smaller.
Where do these numbers come from?
From the line your iPhone prints under Settings, then Camera, then Record Video: a minute of video will be approximately so many megabytes. They're Apple's estimates for a typical scene, not a promise, and an older or newer model can print slightly different figures. Your own phone's line is the one to trust.
Should I use High Efficiency or Most Compatible?
High Efficiency (HEVC), for almost everyone: it's about half the size at the same quality, and most phones, computers and TVs made since 2017 play it. Pick Most Compatible only if you hand files to old software that can't open HEVC. It makes no difference to what VideoBro does with a clip.
How much of my VideoBro shelf will this footage use?
Less than the Camera Roll size. VideoBro converts clips for the tape, so what lands on your shelf isn't the file your phone recorded, and the setting you shot at doesn't change it much. The free shelf is 2 GB, about an hour of footage. Once a tape is developed it counts only its finished film, which is usually smaller than the clips.
How do eight people share a 2-hour tape?
However they like. A tape holds up to 2 hours in total and VideoBro doesn't ration it per person, so the planner above is just arithmetic: eight people is 15 minutes each, four is 30. The counter on the tape screen shows the running total, and when the tape fills you start a second one.