Apple's MLS game broadcast sparks debate: Is it really shot on iPhone?

The entire Major League Soccer (MLS) game was shot with the iPhone 17 Pro Max recently, but not everyone is equally impressed.

Apple officially posted on its Newsroom that Apple TV would air the first major professional sporting event filmed entirely on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and MLS later marketed the event as “Shot on iPhone” through Reels on Instagram. Apple has posted a reel about this as well.

However, this has led to a debate on social media on whether the game was actually shot on an iPhone entirely. Some people were impressed, calling it an achievement for a smartphone camera. Others were quick to point out that a lot of the iPhones in the setup used external lens mounts, so it’s misleading to credit the phone alone.

Upon closer observation, people have noticed that an expensive Fujifilm lens mount was attached to the iPhone. The lens mount alone costs over $200,000, and it massively assists with stabilization, light gathering, and the overall quality of the footage.

Since it uses a setup that’s out of reach for a vast majority of people, claiming that it’s “Shot on iPhone” could be misleading to someone viewing the footage without knowing about the external attachments. A few people pointed out that several third-party tools were used, including the Blackmagic camera app. Because of this, it’s not the same as auto-mode, point-and-shoot footage from the native camera app.

Pushback from the other side was strong — despite using a third-party camera app, it still uses the result from the iPhone’s sensor. It’s also worth noting that seven of the iPhones used to film the event did not use any external lens mounts. The other eight were equipped with massive broadcast lens attachments.

The popular tech content creator MKBHD made a video on this years ago, explaining how the “base” of such footage (games, Ads, Commercials, and Short films, for example) is an iPhone, but there are various external lens equipment for better stabilization and quality. Upon watching such advertisements, an average user might be misled into assuming that these phones can produce such high-quality results out of the box, with the native camera app.

With some posts praising the moment as historic and others saying it’s too externally assisted to count, this situation has divided the enthusiast community. Personally, I think it’s fair to market the product this way, especially since several iPhones didn’t use an external lens.

However, disclosure that ‘results may vary’ without such professional equipment would be a fairer approach. It’s still rather crazy to see a phone replacing multi-thousand-dollar camera sensors, and the quality is still good enough to broadcast live.

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