Apple says it every year, but the iPhone 13’s cameras look much improved

Cameras remain one of the biggest differentials in smartphones, and Apple’s iPhone line is no different. Apple says the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini have the company’s “most advanced dual camera system,” while the 13 Pro and Pro Max have “our most powerful cameras in history.”

Which you would expect, of course. But this year, Apple seems to be really making a big push with its cameras, especially with the Pro models. As always, the question will be what Apple is able to remove from its hardware with image processing and software.

The iPhone 13 line represents the first time Apple has increased the size of the main camera sensor since the iPhone XS and XR in 2018, although last year’s 12 Pro Max had a sensor a 47 for one hundred greater than the 12 and the 12 Pro. The size of the sensor is a key factor in image quality, as along with the lens aperture, it determines how much light the camera can capture. More light, less noise and blur.

The main cameras of the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini have larger sensors, which is part of the reason why this and the ultrawide are now arranged diagonally at the top of the camera. Apple also added optical image stabilization with sensor change, a feature that was first seen in the 12 Pro Max. It’s unclear how big the 13’s sensor is, but Apple says it will capture 47 percent more light than the 12.

The 13 Pro and Pro Max have an even larger primary sensor and a slightly faster f / 1.5 lens that captures 2.2 times more light than before, according to Apple. Again, the exact size of the sensor has not been announced, but Apple has given the size of the pixel: it is 1.9 μm, which is larger than any other modern smartphone I know. Apple can do this because the sensor has a relatively low 12-megapixel resolution, but it’s still an impressive statistic that should translate into low-light performance. For comparison, the 12 Pro Max had 1.7 μm of pixels, while the rest of the iPhone from the XS had 1.4 μm of pixels.

It’s not clear exactly what hardware changes Apple has made to the iPhone 13’s ultra-wide camera; the company simply says it has a “faster sensor” that “reveals more detail in the dark areas of your photos.” However, the Pro has major hardware modifications, as Apple has increased the aperture af / 1.8 to improve the light capture capability by 92%. Now the sensor also has focus pixels on board: things are rarely out of focus in ultra-wide photos, as the depth of field is very large, but if autofocus is added, the camera can be used to take photos. macro, with a focusing distance of 2 cm.

The telephoto camera remains exclusive to the 13 Pro phones and Apple has increased its focal length equivalent to 77mm, or three times more than the main camera. Previously, the telephoto lens of the iPhone 12 Pro offered a 2x zoom while the 12 Pro Max came out at 2.5x. There’s a trade-off here: if you want to frame something with a 2x zoom, the 13 Pro will have to be cropped from the main camera, reducing image quality. But your images that exceed the 3x zoom will be much sharper than before and should provide a better portrait. Apple has also added night mode to the telephoto lens for the first time.

Compared to Android’s competition, Apple doesn’t do much to outperform them on the hardware front. Of note are the large 1.9 μm pixels, but most Android phone makers have prioritized large, high-resolution sensors over the size of pure pixels. Xiaomi’s Mi 11 Ultra, for example, has a huge 50-megapixel sensor with 1.4 μm of pixels, which means it has a decent light capture capability even when shooting at native resolution without putting the pixels together. . And while the 3x telephoto lens will be useful, it’s now common to see 5x (or occasionally even 10x) telescopes in the Android world.

Thus, while Apple has made significant hardware improvements to the entire iPhone 13 line, as always, its performance over the competition will be reduced to the way its image processing channel has been optimized. and software. After all, the iPhone 11 was a much better camera than the XS the year before, although the hardware barely changed. This year, Apple introduces Smart HDR 4, which is able to adjust the exposure individually for several people in the frame, but we’ll have to see the phones for ourselves to find out what kind of difference it makes. The same goes for photo styles, a new filter-like feature that Apple says is smarter when it comes to adjusting elements like skin tones and sky in each photo.

When it comes to video, Apple is taking a big advantage in its cinematic mode that allows you to selectively adjust focus and depth of field when processing, like portrait mode for photos. This is something we will definitely have to try extensively. Meanwhile, 13 Pro allows you to record and edit video in Apple’s ProRes codec on the same phone, or you can export the ProRes file to Final Cut Pro on a Mac.

All the usual warnings about waiting for full reviews still apply, but it looks like it’s a pretty good year for the iPhone’s camera. Apple will never have the most eye-catching hardware, but it has made some welcome improvements in areas that make sense and thankfully hasn’t blocked any features on the full-size iPhone. We’re looking forward to seeing the results, as well as those of upcoming competitors like the Pixel 6.