How to Take Better Photos on iPhone with Pro Raw

Your iPhone takes decent photos out of the box. Apple has made sure of that. But "decent" is doing a lot of heavy lifting when the hardware in your pocket is capable of producing images that genuinely rival a dedicated camera. The problem is that Apple buries the settings that make this possible inside hidden menus, and they've given features like Pro Raw a name that sounds more like a protein bar than a photography tool.

With about five minutes of setup and a small shift in how you think about taking photos, you can dramatically improve every shot. I've been doing this on my iPhone 16 Pro, and in this post I'm going to walk you through the exact camera settings, the workflow, and the simple editing process I use to get photos that make people ask, "Wait, you took that on an iPhone?"

Before we get into it — if you have an iPhone 13 Pro or newer, everything here applies to you. You don't need the latest model to benefit from these settings.

Why Apple's Default Camera Settings Hold You Back

Apple's philosophy with the default camera app is convenience first, quality second. Out of the box, your iPhone prioritises smaller file sizes, automatic processing, and photos that brighten everything while crushing all the shadows. The result is a photo that looks fine — maybe a seven out of ten — but your iPhone's sensor is capable of so much more.

When you take a standard photo, Apple runs a stack of processing before it saves to your camera roll. It adjusts skin tones, boosts colours, oversharpens details, and brightens everything as if shadows have personally offended it. For a quick family snap, that's perfectly adequate. But when you actually care about a shot, all that automatic processing gets in the way.

The good news is you can turn most of it off. And you should.

The iPhone Camera Settings You Need to Change

Start in the Settings App, Not the Camera App

Apple buries the camera configuration inside the main Settings app rather than in the Camera app itself. Head to Settings > Camera to get started.

Photographic Styles are Apple's version of built-in filters. You can swipe between options that adjust undertones and skin tone rendering. They're an okay starting point if you want a blanket change to the look of every photo, but I leave mine on Standard. The real customisation comes later.

For video, I record at 4K 24fps (the same settings I use for my YouTube videos), with Enhanced Stabilisation ticked on and HDR video turned off. I know HDR is supposed to be better, but in practice it makes everything look like a soap opera filmed in someone's living room. It also causes that infuriating moment when you're scrolling through Instagram in bed with your screen brightness turned all the way down, and an HDR video suddenly cranks your display to maximum. Standard dynamic range avoids all of that.

Turn On Pro Raw and Resolution Control

This is the single most important setting in this entire post. If you change nothing else, change this.

Go to Settings > Camera > Formats > Pro Raw and Resolution Control and turn it on. Within the format settings, select JPEG Lossless Most Compatible. This gives you four times the resolution of a standard iPhone photo.

The trade-off is file size. Each iPhone Pro Raw photo comes in at roughly 75 megabytes — about 25 times larger than a regular iPhone photo. If storage concerns you, you can choose one of the XL variants for a slightly lower resolution and smaller file size. But if you clicked on a post about taking better photos, the extra storage is worth it.

Preserve Settings and Composition Aids

Still in Settings, head to Preserve Settings and turn on Camera Mode, Creative Controls, and Macro Control. This ensures the Camera app remembers whatever you last set it to.

Under Composition, switch on both Grid and Level. The grid overlays the rule of thirds on your viewfinder, and the level indicator helps you keep your phone perfectly straight. These two tiny additions improve composition on every single photo you take, even casual ones.

How to Use Pro Raw in the Camera App

When you open the Camera app, you'll see a badge in the top left corner (it will say HIF by default). Tap it and you can switch to RAW 24 or RAW 48 Max. If you're going to shoot Raw, go all in — 48 megapixels.

One thing to note: shooting in Raw disables Live Photos. You can't have both.

This is where my day-to-day workflow comes in. By default, I leave the camera on HIF for regular shots — quick family photos, snapping a sign, anything where I just need a record of something. But when I see a shot I actually want to compose and edit later, I switch to Raw. It takes one second and it becomes second nature.

Two Quick Camera App Tricks

While you're in the Camera app, there are two controls worth knowing about. If you tap and hold on your subject, you'll activate autofocus lock. The focus stays pinned to that subject even as you move around. And if you tap once to focus, you can drag up or down on the right side of the yellow focus box to manually adjust the exposure — darkening or brightening the shot before you take it.

Editing iPhone Pro Raw Photos in Lightroom

Here's where people tend to switch off because "editing" sounds like a time commitment. It doesn't have to be. My entire Lightroom workflow on iPhone comes down to one step: applying a preset.

I use Adobe Lightroom on my phone, though apps like VSCO or PhotoMator work too. I import the Raw photo, choose one of my presets, and export. That's it.

I've built ten presets that cover different shooting scenarios — sunny landscapes, darker moody shots, portraits, scenery with lots of greenery. Each preset adjusts the colour grading, shadows, highlights, and tones in a way I've already dialled in once and can now apply repeatedly. Some bring out blues and greens; others lift the shadows and warm the tones. I scroll through, pick the one that suits the photo, tap Done, and export.

You can go deeper. Lightroom lets you manually adjust exposure, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, saturation, temperature, and tints. But the whole point of presets is that you don't have to tinker with those sliders every time. Build your templates once (or grab a set that someone else has already made) and you're sorted.

My presets are available at shop.lewislovelock.com — they're built specifically for iPhone Raw photos. And if you want a broader toolkit for iPhone content creation, including LUTs and other resources, check out the iPhone Creator Pack.

The Downsides of Shooting Pro Raw

I'd be lying if I said there were no trade-offs.

Battery drain is real. Processing 48-megapixel Raw photos demands significantly more power than firing off a standard 12-megapixel shot. If you're out shooting all day, bring a power bank. Your phone will likely tap out by mid-afternoon otherwise.

iCloud storage becomes a problem fast. Apple's free 5GB tier — which is laughable in 2025 — will fill up almost immediately. If you're backing up your photos to iCloud, you'll need to upgrade to a higher storage tier.

It's not for every photo. This is the most important caveat. You don't need to shoot every photo in Pro Raw. A picture of a parking sign or a screenshot of an address doesn't need 48 megapixels of detail.

My Minimalist iPhone Photography Workflow

Here's how I actually use all of this day to day, because I'm not a professional photographer — I'm a photo enthusiast trying to get the most out of my iPhone.

By default, every photo I take is a standard HIF shot. Live Photos on, regular file size, no fuss. The grid and level stay on permanently because they improve composition on everything.

When I see something I actually want to capture properly — a landscape, a moment, a scene worth keeping — I switch to Pro Raw in the Camera app. I take the shot with care: proper composition, level framing, intentional focus. Later, I batch-edit those Raw photos in Lightroom by applying presets, either on my phone or on desktop.

That's the entire workflow. It takes almost no extra time in the moment, and the editing is a few taps per photo. The difference in the final result, though, is enormous.

The best part is that once you start shooting this way, you naturally slow down and pay more attention to what you're photographing. You compose more carefully, you think about the light, and you end up with photos you're genuinely proud of. And if it turns out it's not for you, that's fine too — at least now you know what your iPhone is actually capable of.

FAQ

Do I need the latest iPhone to shoot Pro Raw?

No. iPhone Pro Raw is available on iPhone 13 Pro and newer. You don't need the iPhone 16 Pro to use these settings, though newer models may offer slightly higher resolution options.

Will Pro Raw photos work with Instagram and other social media?

Yes. You can export edited Raw photos from Lightroom as standard JPEG files, which are fully compatible with Instagram, WhatsApp, and any other platform. The Raw file is just your starting point for editing.

How much iCloud storage do I need for Pro Raw?

At roughly 75MB per photo, you'll quickly outgrow Apple's free 5GB tier. I'd recommend at least the 200GB iCloud plan if you're shooting Raw regularly, or consider offloading edited photos and deleting the Raw originals.