Apple’s long-running “Shot on iPhone” slogan is moving from billboards to the biggest soccer stage in North America. 
During the Major League Soccer final between Inter Miami and the Vancouver Whitecaps, a small team of iPhone 17 Pro units will stand shoulder to shoulder with professional broadcast cameras, feeding live footage straight into the official stream.
Four phones among thirty cameras
Four iPhone 17 Pro phones will be mounted behind the goals and in the stands to follow fans’ reactions, last-second saves, and wild celebrations from angles traditional rigs usually miss. Whenever the director cuts to one of these feeds, viewers will see a clear “Shot on iPhone” label, so you’ll know you’re watching smartphone footage and not a multimillion-dollar broadcast lens.
Tested for real broadcast pressure
This isn’t a last-minute stunt. MLS engineers have reportedly spent months stress-testing the phones inside their workflow, checking latency, heat management under stadium lights, wireless stability in a packed arena, and keeping everything in sync with the main cameras. One of the big technical reasons the league settled on the iPhone 17 Pro is Apple’s ProRes pipeline, which allows the crew to color-match the phone footage quickly so it doesn’t stand out awkwardly on air.
Still, no one in production is pretending the iPhone can fully replace high-end broadcast systems. Dedicated TV cameras remain far ahead in low-light performance, dynamic range, zoom, and reliability over hours-long live events. The appeal of the iPhone is different: it’s relatively cheap, flexible, incredibly familiar to viewers, and powerful enough in video to hold up when used smartly.
Innovation or just expensive product placement?
That’s where the marketing angle comes in. Realistically, this is as much about Apple’s brand as it is about MLS innovation. It looks very likely that Apple is backing the experiment financially, the same way companies pay for product placements in movies or sponsor films “shot on iPhone.” The league gets extra money and buzz around its final, Apple gets millions of fans seeing a phone they recognize playing with the “big boys” of broadcast gear.
For some viewers, the whole thing will feel exciting – a proof of how far phone cameras have come. For others, it’s yet another ad jammed into a match that’s already surrounded by logos and sponsors. Either way, when the final kicks off, the iPhone 17 Pro will be right there on the pitch, trying to turn everyday fan reactions into the next glossy “Shot on iPhone” moment.