How to send 4K video at full quality
4K is big because the bit rate is high. An iPhone shooting 4K at 30 fps uses more than 175 MB a minute in HEVC and more than 6.6 GB a minute in ProRes 422 HQ. Shrinking it to fit a chat app re-encodes it. Sending the original file over a link keeps every frame as it was.
Numbers checked ottobre 2026. Each one links to where it came from.
What you're up against
How much a minute of 4K takes, by camera and format:
- iPhone, 4K 30 fps, HEVCsupport.apple.com, checked ottobre 2026
- 175+ MB a minuteFinal Cut Camera app
- iPhone, 4K 30 fps, ProRes 422support.apple.com, checked ottobre 2026
- 4.4+ GB a minuteFinal Cut Camera app
- iPhone, 4K 30 fps, ProRes 422 HQsupport.apple.com, checked ottobre 2026
- 6.6+ GB a minuteFinal Cut Camera app
- iPhone, full-sensor ProRes RAW, 30 fpssupport.apple.com, checked ottobre 2026
- 10+ GB a minuteFinal Cut Camera app
- iPhone, ProRes against HEVCsupport.apple.com, checked ottobre 2026
- Up to 30× larger
- Canon EOS R5, 4K 29.97 fps, IPBglobal.canon, checked ottobre 2026
- About 869 MB a minute120 Mbps
- Canon EOS R5, 4K 29.97 fps, ALL-Iglobal.canon, checked ottobre 2026
- About 3.4 GB a minute470 Mbps
- ProRes 422 HQ, 3840×2160 at 24papple.com, checked ottobre 2026
- 318 GB an hour707 Mbps, Apple's target data rate
How to send it
Get the original file
Send the file the camera wrote, not an export. Every export re-encodes the video. From an iPhone to a computer, a cable gets ProRes off fastest: Apple recommends USB-C or Lightning.
Drop it on download.fyi
Open download.fyi on the device that has the file and drop it, or choose it. Clips from a whole shoot can go in one link.
Send the link, keep the tab open
They get the exact bytes you had: same codec, same bit rate, same metadata. Nothing is re-compressed on the way.
How long it takes
Your upload speed sets the pace. These are best-case times at full speed; real transfers run a little slower.
| Upload speed | 10 min HEVC (1.75 GB) | 10 min ProRes 422 HQ (66 GB) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Mbps | 12min | 7h 20min |
| 50 Mbps | 5min | 2h 56min |
| 100 Mbps | 2min | 1h 28min |
| 300 Mbps | 47s | 29min |
| 1000 Mbps | 14s | 9min |
Another size? Try the download time calculator.
Tips
Importing from an iPhone over USB can turn HEVC into H.264. To keep the original, set Settings > Apps > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC to Keep Originals.
Shooting ProRes on an iPhone with 128 GB of storage? Apple limits those models to 1080p ProRes. 4K ProRes needs 256 GB or more.
If they only need to review a cut, a smaller export is fine. Send the original when they'll edit, grade or archive it.
Long ProRes files can top 100 GB. Check the 100 GB guide for timing.
Questions
Will the video lose quality?
No. download.fyi sends the file byte for byte. It doesn't transcode, resize or strip metadata, so what arrives is identical to what you dropped.
Why is my 4K video so big?
Bit rate. 4K HEVC from an iPhone runs at roughly 175 MB a minute; ProRes trades size for editing quality and is up to 30 times larger. A camera like the Canon EOS R5 records 4K ALL-I at 470 Mbps, about 3.4 GB a minute.
Can I send 4K video through WhatsApp or email?
Only short clips, and chat apps may compress them. Email attachments stop at a few tens of megabytes, a few seconds of 4K. Check the limits for each app.
How long does a 66 GB ProRes file take to send?
About 7 hours 20 minutes at 20 Mbps upload, or 1 hour 28 minutes at 100 Mbps, at full speed.
Related guides
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