Apple is Taking the iPhone 18 Pro Out to the Ballgame Tonight
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The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max only began arriving in customers’ eager hands today, but Apple is already putting its new flagship smartphones in the spotlight, announcing that tonight’s final Friday Night Baseball broadcast of the season will use over a dozen iPhone 18 Pro devices to capture all the action as the Giants and Dodgers face off at Dodger Stadium.
While Apple already broke this ground last year with the iPhone 17 Pro at Fenway Park, that only involved strategically placing four iPhone 17 Pro devices in key spots where traditional broadcast cameras weren’t typically ideal, such as inside the iconic Green Monster and the Red Sox dugout. That gave it some pretty unique angles, but this time around it’s going all-in with the iPhone 18 Pro.
A total of fourteen different iPhone 18 Pro devices will be deployed around Dodger Stadium, catching footage in both bullpens, as well as inside the pitch clock, backstop, foul pole, and more. This will offer never-before-seen perspectives during the game. It’s the same playbook Apple used last year, just expanded to nearly a dozen more vantage points.
iPhone will offer unique perspectives that would be difficult to achieve with traditional broadcast cameras thanks to its small footprint.
Apple
Eight of the iPhones will be streaming live footage over a dedicated T-Mobile Private 5G network straight into the booth to be used in the broadcast, while the remainder will presumably provide additional footage for post-game coverage. As with most private 5G networks, this will operate on a different frequency from standard 5G and Wi-Fi, ensuring a fast and interference-free stream.
The iPhone 18 Pro will also be filling in where traditional shoulder rig cameras are often used to pick up extra moments like batting practice or events in the dugouts.
In August, Apple also began capturing select Friday Night Baseball games in Immersive Video for the Vision Pro. That involves more specialized cameras, and so far it’s only covered one of the MLB games each Friday, starting with the Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees, and then continuing with the Los Angeles Angels at Pittsburgh Pirates on September 4, the San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants on September 11, and tonight’s Giants vs. Dodgers matchup.
Last year’s introduction of the iPhone into Fenway Park represented a landmark moment for both the iPhone and MLB, to the point where the iPhone 17 Pro was recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which added one of the authenticated iPhone devices used in the broadcast to its permanent collection in Cooperstown, New York.
Tonight’s Friday Night Baseball doubleheader will close off the season, with the Philadelphia Phillies meeting the New York Mets at 7 p.m. ET followed by the iPhone 18 Pro-captured San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers at 10 p.m. ET. Apple TV subscribers can watch Friday Night Baseball on the Apple TV app on pretty much any Apple device or the long list of smart TVs, set-top boxes, and game consoles where it’s available, or on the web at tv.apple.com.
