The Weeknd shoots his ‘Dancing in the Flames’ music video, which Apple says was recorded ‘entirely’ with the iPhone 16. Photo Credit: Apple
Following the announcement of Kendrick Lamar as the Apple Music-sponsored Super Bowl Halftime Show’s headliner, The Weeknd is preparing to drop a music video recorded “entirely” on the iPhone 16 Pro.
Apple formally unveiled that music video (and the iPhone 16 itself) at the “It’s Glowtime” event today before reaching out with additional details. As many will remember, last year saw the Cupertino-based company tap Olivia Rodrigo to shoot a music video with the iPhone 15; the Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show headliner Usher did the same, albeit with “Ruin,” closer to the top of 2024.
Now, days removed from The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow reveal, the Apple Music developer is leaning into another tie-up with a high-profile act. Set to premiere this coming Friday, the music video for The Weeknd’s “Dancing in the Flames” was “shot entirely on the just announced iPhone 16 Pro,” Apple told us.
Of course, as was also the case with the iPhone 15 music-video shoots of Rodrigo and Usher, the filming process was presumably aided by studio lighting and no shortage of professional equipment. Nevertheless, photography director Erik Henrikkson took the opportunity to tout the core capabilities of the iPhone 16, which is poised to hit store shelves on September 20th.
“Using iPhone 16 Pro is starting to erase the line between what’s considered a ‘professional camera’ and what’s not,” Henrikkson communicated in part. “And I think this is really really going to help young filmmakers coming up.
“Working with iPhone 16 Pro, which now shoots in 4K120 frames, is really a game-changer when it comes to working with post. You can do speed-ramping, and work closely with the post-supervisor on set. We did tests and we were both very very excited when we saw the results,” proceeded the cinematographer, who’s had a hand in different Weeknd music-video projects like “Heartless” as well.
Beyond the inherent significance of sponsoring (via Apple Music, once again) the Super Bowl Halftime Show and continuing to close deals with commercially prominent artists, Apple’s still-growing industry presence is noteworthy on multiple levels.
First, said presence is expanding notwithstanding intensifying friction between the company and its longtime rival Spotify. As explored in detail by DMN Pro, Apple Music (which, unlike Spotify, charges $10.99 per month for its Individual plan in the U.S.) has a domestic edge in Individual subscriptions despite trailing Spotify overall.
Consequently, Spotify probably isn’t thrilled with the music-space moves of Apple, which is further grappling with considerable regulatory scrutiny in the EU. And second, with ongoing industry concerns about and infringement litigation targeting generative AI platforms, Apple’s latest maneuvers have arrived as it reportedly considers backing artificial intelligence giant OpenAI.
