Apple debuts new iPhones, updates iOS 16

GaryPageau

Apple debuted new iPhone 14 smartphones featuring higher resolution and improved camera features. The company also released iOS 16 with a few new photo-related enhancements.

The Cupertino, Calif-based company announced the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, featuring the Dynamic Island and the Always-On display. Powered by A16 Bionic, iPhone 14 Pro introduces a new 48MP Main camera on the iPhone featuring a quad-pixel sensor, and Photonic Engine, an enhanced image pipeline that dramatically improves low-light photos.

iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available in four gorgeous new finishes: deep purple, silver, gold, and space black.

“Our customers count on their iPhone every day, and with iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, we’re delivering more advancements than any other iPhone. iPhone 14 Pro introduces a camera system that empowers every user — from the casual user to the professional — to take their best photos and video, and innovative new technologies like the Always-On display and the Dynamic Island, which offers new interactions for notifications and activities,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Groundbreaking safety capabilities bring users even more security, offering help when they need it most. And with the incredibly powerful and efficient A16 Bionic chip and all-day battery life, this is the best iPhone yet.”

Apple iPhone 14 Pro back cameras

iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature surgical-grade stainless steel and textured matte glass design in four colors. Available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, both models include a new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion. The display also brings the same peak HDR brightness level as Pro Display XDR, and the highest outdoor peak brightness in a smartphone: up to 2000 nits, which is twice as bright as iPhone 13 Pro.

The “Dynamic Island” features a new design adapting in real time to show important alerts, notifications, and activities. With theDynamic Island, the front TrueDepth camera has been redesigned to take up less of the display area.

Camera enhancements

Apple says the iPhone 14 Pro takes “computational photography even further with Photonic Engine,” offering a giant leap for mid- to low-light performance in photos across all cameras through a deep integration of hardware and software: up to 2x on the Main camera, up to 3x on the Ultra Wide camera, up to 2x on the Telephoto camera, and up to 2x on the TrueDepth camera. Photonic Engine enables this dramatic increase in quality by applying Deep Fusion earlier in the imaging process to deliver extraordinary detail, preserve subtle textures, provide better color, and maintain more information in a photo.

For most photos, the quad-pixel sensor combines every four pixels into one large quad pixel equivalent to 2.44 µm, resulting in low-light capture and keeping photo size at a practical 12MP. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom. The quad-pixel sensor also brings benefits to pro workflows, optimizing for detail in ProRAW. And with a new machine learning model designed specifically for the quad-pixel sensor, iPhone now shoots ProRAW at 48MP with an unprecedented level of detail, enabling new creative workflows for pro users.

Additional pro camera system upgrades and features include:

  • A new 12MP Ultra Wide camera with 1.4 µm pixels.
  • An improved Telephoto camera that offers 3x optical zoom.
  • A new front TrueDepth camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture that enables better low-light performance for photos and video. Using autofocus for the first time, it can focus even faster in low light and capture group shots from farther away.
  • A new Adaptive True Tone flash that has been completely redesigned with an array of nine LEDs that change pattern based on the chosen focal length.
  • Computational photography benefits like Night mode, Smart HDR 4, Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, Night mode Portrait photos, Photographic Styles to personalize the look of every photo, and Apple ProRAW.
  • A new Action mode for smooth-looking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations, even when video is being captured in the middle of the action.
  • Cinematic mode, now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps.
  • Pro-level workflows for video, including ProRes and end-to-end Dolby Vision HDR.

Apple also introduced the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, featuring two sizes: 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches. iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus feature new Main and front TrueDepth cameras, the Ultra Wide camera for unique perspectives, and Photonic Engine. Both models include the A15 Bionic chip with a 5-core GPU. iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available in midnight, blue, starlight, purple, and (PRODUCT)RED finishes.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have a new 12MP Main camera featuring a larger sensor and larger pixels, a new front TrueDepth camera, the Ultra Wide camera to capture more of a scene, and Photonic Engine.

Dual-camera system upgrades and features include:

  • A new Main camera with a larger ƒ/1.5 aperture and 1.9 µm pixels, enabling photo and video improvements in all lighting scenarios for better detail and motion freezing, less noise, faster exposure times, and sensor-shift optical image stabilization.
  • A new front TrueDepth camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture that enables better low-light performance for photos and video. Using autofocus for the first time, it can focus even faster in low light and capture group shots from farther away.
  • A new Action mode for smooth-looking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations, even when video is being captured in the middle of the action.
  • The Ultra Wide camera, offering a unique perspective for wider shots and improvements to low-light photos with Photonic Engine.
  • An improved True Tone flash that is 10 percent brighter and has better uniformity for more consistent lighting.
  • Cinematic mode, now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps.
  • End-to-end Dolby Vision HDR, available only on iPhone.

iOS 16 update available now

iOS 16 is available today as a free software update. The update includes mostly enhancements to the Lock Screen and other usability improvements. One photo-related enhancement: Users can copy objects from the foreground of images, such as pets, plants, people, and products.