Apple has announced the new iPhone 14 Pro (6.1-inch) and Pro Max (6.7-inch) devices that feature a new Dynamic Island notification center as well as an upgraded 48-megapixel main camera.
The new main camera is a three-lens array that delivers 48-megapixel images via the main camera. That sensor, which bears striking resemblance to Samsung’s GM2, also features a quad-pixel array and is overall 65 percent larger than iPhone 13 Pro. It is able to adapt to the photo being captured and features second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization.
The quad-pixel system combines every four pixels into one large pixel equivalent to 2.44 µm, which uses all of the 48-megapixel pixels to create a finished 12-megapixel photo with significantly more detail and color depth. It also drives the improvement to lowlight capture.
Apple’s new camera system offers improvement in lowlight performance, up to two times on the Main camera, up to three times on the Ultra Wide camera, up to two times on the Telephoto camera, and up to two times 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, and preserve subtle textures, provide better color, and maintain more information in a photo,” says Apple.
The new Ultra Wide camera delivers 12-megapixel images with 1.4 µm pixels.
There is also an improved Telephoto lens that offers a three times optical zoom and the new TrueDepth camera has an f/1.9 aperture lens inside to better tackle lowlight situations.
Below are a few sample images captured with the iPhone 14 Pro.
Apple says the flash has also been redesigned with a new Adaptive True Tone flash installed that is an array of nine LEDs that change pattern according to the focal length. Using the product’s new A16 Bionic Chip, which is the fastest ever to go into an iPhone, it uses 16 billion transistors that help the computational photography features inside the phone.
The chip powers four trillion operations every time a photo is taken which helps Apple’s Phototonic Engine which uses a “powerful neural engine” that combines multiple images into a single photo.
Computational photography modes include 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.
The video camera gets a new Action mode which stabilizes video that would otherwise be shaky. While Cinematic mode offers 4K at 30 or 24 frames per second.
Dynamic Island
The Dynamic Island feature is a new space for notifications that has unique animations and transitions and also hides the front-facing selfie camera and Face ID sensor. It “blends the line between hardware and software, adapting in real-time to show important alerts, notifications, and activities”
Apple’s TrueDepth camera has been redesigned to take up less of the display area with the proximity sensor going behind the display for the first time.
The smartphone’s display is a Super Retina XDR and has a peak HDR brightness of 1,600, the same as a Pro Display XDR, and a peak outdoor brightness of 2,000 nits, which is twice as bright as the iPhone 13 Pro.
The lock screen has an Always-On display which can operate as low as 1hz and will intelligently dim the entire lock screen while preserving the colors of background photos.
Pricing and Availability
The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are available in deep purple, silver, gold, and space black in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities and will be available to pre-order starting on September 9, with availability starting September 16. The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999 while the Pro Max starts at $1,099.
Author: Matt Growcoot
Source: Petapixel
