‘They gave us the iPhone camera’: F1 producer Jerry Bruckheimer on Apple’s ‘phenomenal’ involvement in the movie’s production

1. Streaming

‘They gave us the iPhone camera’: F1 producer Jerry Bruckheimer on Apple’s ‘phenomenal’ involvement in the movie’s production News By Axel Metz published 11 December 2025

Exclusive: ‘Eddy Cue wanted to make sure we did it right’

Comments (0) ()

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Brad Pitt (Image credit: Getty Images (ANGELA WEISS/AFP / Jayce Illman))

There’s nothing like a bit of macho melodrama to get bums on cinema seats, and legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer knows that unspoken truth better than most.

Just three years after Top Gun: Maverick breathed new life into the action movie genre, Bruckheimer reunited with director Joseph Kosinski and writer Ehren Kruger on F1: The Movie, a pedal-to-the-metal popcorn blockbuster that quickly became the most successful sports movie of all time and the highest-grossing film of Brad Pitt’s career.

Apple didn’t do too badly out of it, either. With $600 million in box office takings to its name, F1 provided a much-needed boon to Apple’s in-house production company, Apple Studios, and paved the way for the tech giant to secure the rights to broadcast Formula 1 in the US from 2026 onwards.

You may like

• Go go go – Apple TV is the official home of F1 races and more in the United States, starting in 2026
• Exclusive: ‘Those phones are being treated just like any other camera’ – Inside Apple’s first Friday Night Baseball broadcast shot on iPhone 17 Pro
• A team of iPhone 17 Pro phones will step up to the plate on Apple TV+'s Friday Night Baseball

Did Apple have its sights set on a lucrative live sports deal the whole time? Perhaps. But as Bruckheimer tells me ahead of F1’s Apple TV debut on December 12, the iPhone maker was as enthusiastic (if not more) about the filmmaking process as any traditional movie studio.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar

“Apple wanted to make the movie that we made,” Bruckheimer explains in London. “They wanted it for real. Eddy Cue, who is [senior VP of Services] at Apple, is a big sports car enthusiast, and he's actually on the board of Ferrari, so it really helped that he was somebody who was really into the sport, who loved F1, and wanted to make sure we did it right.

It's a brilliant company, and they did a phenomenal job working with us.

Jerry Bruckheimer

“And when Joe [Kosinski] called Brad [Pitt] and pitched him the story, Brad said, ‘Look, the only thing I'm gonna tell you, it's gotta be done for real. I gotta drive.’ And that's the way Apple wanted to do it. That's why we wanted to do it, and that's how we got the movie made.

“So Apple was involved in developing the movie, of course. We had script meetings, and they [were constructive about] every script that went through them. It's a brilliant company, and they did a phenomenal job working with us.”

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Jerry Bruckheimer (second left) with Tim Cook (center) and Eddy Cue (second right) at the F1 premiere (Image credit: Getty Images (ANGELA WEISS/AFP))

When I ask whether there was anything different or special about working with Apple, specifically – as opposed to a company like Walt Disney Pictures, Bruckheimer’s co-producer on all five Pirates of the Caribbean movies – he’s quick to praise Apple’s knack for developing innovative camera technologies: “Well, the good news is that Apple is a tech company. And they gave us the iPhone camera [to film with], an enhanced version of it.

“So we had one of [Apple’s] cameras on nine drivers in the actual cars – not our [mock] cars; the actual race cars. And some of the footage you see is [captured at] 220mph, whether it’s of Max (Verstappen) driving, Lewis [Hamilton] driving, or Brad [Pitt] and Damson [Idris], who both did all their own driving.”

The ‘enhanced iPhone camera’ Bruckheimer is referring to is actually an Apple-designed version of the cockpit camera used in real-world Formula 1 broadcasts. The problem with those cameras is that they capture footage at a lower resolution than needed for a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster, so Apple built its own high-resolution, shock-resistant cockpit camera using iPhone parts – including an iPhone battery and a camera sensor powered by an unnamed A-series chip (Sony, too, developed a new Rialto Mini camera for the same purpose).

You may like

• Go go go – Apple TV is the official home of F1 races and more in the United States, starting in 2026
• Exclusive: ‘Those phones are being treated just like any other camera’ – Inside Apple’s first Friday Night Baseball broadcast shot on iPhone 17 Pro
• A team of iPhone 17 Pro phones will step up to the plate on Apple TV+'s Friday Night Baseball

Apple's custom cockpit camera in action (Image credit: Apple TV+)

As Wired notes, the custom firmware used to run this Apple-made camera actually led to two new features in the iPhone 15 Pro: log encoding and support for the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) workflow. Talk about a mutually beneficial partnership.

Before I let Bruckheimer get back to planning Top Gun 3, National Treasure 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean 6 (yes, really), I ask whether he ever saw Apple CEO Tim Cook jump into an F1 car during the shooting of the film:

“First of all, [he] can't get in the car,” Bruckheimer laughs. “The seat is molded to your body. I mean, it takes an F2 driver almost a month before he can get in an F1 car. That's how difficult these things are to drive. It takes 35 people just to start the car! It's an amazing sport – very expensive, and the technical knowledge is unbelievable.”

I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then.

F1: The Movie begins streaming on Apple TV on December 12.

Today's best Apple TV dealsApple TV Monthly SG$13.98/mthViewat Apple TV

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

TOPICS Apple CATEGORIES iPhone Phones Axel MetzSocial Links NavigationPhones Editor

Axel is TechRadar's Phones Editor, reporting on everything from the latest Apple developments to newest AI breakthroughs as part of the site's Mobile Computing vertical. Having previously written for publications including Esquire and FourFourTwo, Axel is well-versed in the applications of technology beyond the desktop, and his coverage extends from general reporting and analysis to in-depth interviews and opinion.Axel studied for a degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick before joining TechRadar in 2020, where he earned an NCTJ qualification as part of the company’s inaugural digital training scheme.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Logout Read more Go go go – Apple TV is the official home of F1 races and more in the United States, starting in 2026    Exclusive: ‘Those phones are being treated just like any other camera’ – Inside Apple’s first Friday Night Baseball broadcast shot on iPhone 17 Pro    A team of iPhone 17 Pro phones will step up to the plate on Apple TV+'s Friday Night Baseball    “We're always on this endless cycle of trying to improve” - we hear how ServiceNow is helping Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 push for success    Hate the new iPhone 17 Pro? That probably just means it wasn't made for you    Inside Apple’s quest to add a heart-rate sensor and full workout tracking into AirPods Pro 3    Latest in Streaming Disney and OpenAI are set to open the vault to Sora — yet an AI Mickey feels like magic lost    Supergirl trailer launch breakdown: all the news, analysis, and reaction to the new DCU movie's first teaser    South Park season 28 episode 5 ending explained – does the Antichrist die?    The First Snow of Fraggle Rock is the kid-friendly festive special that Apple TV needs – and it's got the makings of being a Christmas classic    Jennifer Lawrence's return to Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is spoiled    The Rings of Power season 3 has officially wrapped filming, and I've got thoughts about when it'll launch on Prime Video    Latest in News Mullvad retires OpenVPN support on desktop, pushing all users to WireGuard    ICO levies £1.2 million fine against LastPass — data breach compromised info on 1.6 million users    Switzerland will revise proposed law change after backlash from tech industry    How to watch Celtic vs AS Roma: Europa League 2025/26 free stream, TV channels, kick-off time    ‘They gave us the iPhone camera’: F1 producer Jerry Bruckheimer on Apple’s ‘phenomenal’ involvement in the movie’s production    The Galaxy Z TriFold has a neat PC trick that could justify its price tag    LATEST ARTICLES

1. 1Switzerland will revise proposed law change after backlash from tech industry
2. 2Disney and OpenAI are set to open the vault to Sora — yet an AI Mickey feels like magic lost
3. 3Nvidia develops new software to help track chips following smuggling discovery
4. 4Goodbye June review: New Netflix movie is a near flawless directorial debut for Kate Winslet — but you’ll cry your eyes out
5. 5Mullvad retires OpenVPN support on desktop, pushing all users to WireGuard