Blackmagic Pro Dock for iPhone 17 Announced – Pro Connectivity for Mobile Filmmakers

At IBC 2025, we spoke with Craig Heffernan from Blackmagic Design about their new Professional Dock for the iPhone 17 Professional. Introduced in tandem with Apple’s newest telephone, the dock provides professional options the telephone alone can’t present: HDMI monitoring, genlock, timecode, audio in/out, exterior storage, and a devoted energy enter. It primarily transforms the iPhone 17 right into a digital camera that may be rigged for impartial movies, broadcast work, and even multi-camera productions.Increasing iPhone video past USB-CThe iPhone 17 Professional can seize in 4K and ProRes RAW, however the machine itself is restricted to a single USB-C port. The Professional Dock, which we checked out intimately a number of days in the past, expands this into HDMI, USB-C for exterior drives, 3.5mm audio, genlock, and timecode, all routed by means of a single cable. The {hardware} is engineered to deal with these concurrently with out the bandwidth bottlenecks that will usually happen on the telephone alone. The dock manages bandwidth internally so filmmakers can run an exterior SSD, feed audio, output HDMI, and sync a number of cameras concurrently with out overloading the telephone.Blackmagic Professional Dock. Picture credit score: Blackmagic DesignMonitoring, sync, and audioThe dock’s HDMI output is restricted to 1080p. It’s not supposed for high-resolution playback however as an alternative serves as a confidence feed for framing or on-set monitoring, for instance. Genlock and timecode enable a number of iPhones to be synchronized collectively or mixed with Blackmagic and different cinema cameras in combined productions. Audio is dealt with by means of a 3.5mm enter, which will be tailored to XLR by means of exterior packs. Whereas many productions will proceed recording audio individually, this enter presents a simple approach to seize scratch audio or a backup observe on to the iPhone.Picture credit score: CineDPower and mounting choices The dock requires an exterior 12V DC provide for full performance. Energy is distributed not solely to the iPhone but in addition to related equipment like SSDs. Relying solely on the iPhone’s inside battery is feasible, however it’s going to rapidly deplete the battery.Mounting factors on the highest and backside make it simple to combine the dock into current rigs. Craig stated that Blackmagic has opted to not produce a customized cage, relying as an alternative on current options from firms comparable to SmallRig, for instance. The light-weight construct permits the dock to sit down comfortably on gimbals or tripods, which fits cellular journalists and impartial filmmakers who want compact but skilled setups.Picture credit score: Blackmagic DesignPricing and availabilityThe Blackmagic Professional Dock for iPhone 17 will retail for $299 / €255. It’s anticipated to ship with the discharge of the iPhone 17 subsequent week, initially by means of Apple Shops, and later by way of Blackmagic resellers. Help for each the Blackmagic Digicam app and Apple’s native video software program will comply with shortly after the iPhone 17 launch.What do you assume? Might the Professional Dock push the iPhone additional into skilled filmmaking, or is it nonetheless greatest reserved for particular use instances like cellular journalism and indie initiatives? Inform us your ideas within the feedback!