this story is part Focal Point iPhone 2022CNET’s collection of news, tips, and advice about Apple’s most popular products.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro has several camera systems and performance improvements, star reviewsThis includes a 48-megapixel sensor and the company’s new image processing technology called Photonic Engine.This gives the iPhone 14 Pro an immediate advantage over last year iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Maxat least on paper.
But do these new hardware and software capabilities really make a difference in the real world?
To find out, I compared the cameras on both phones in various challenging situations around San Francisco. Latest version iOS 16.
For more information, Specific improvements to the iPhone 14 Pro camera system, by colleague Stephen Shankland. CNET’s Patrick Holland also Great analysis of iPhone 14 Pro photos Learn how the Photonic Engine can help improve photo quality in difficult lighting conditions.
Lexi Savides/CNET
The iPhone 14 Pro’s 48-megapixel sensor captures more detail
In terms of hardware, the biggest change between the two phones is the 14 Pro’s new 48-megapixel sensor in the main wide camera. It’s physically larger than the old iPhone. megapixel. The 13 Pro uses a 12 megapixel sensor.
using a technique called pixel binning, the iPhone 14 Pro combines four pixels into groups to capture more detail in 12-megapixel photos. I can do it. This gives photographers flexibility when editing and recovering shadow and highlight detail, among many other benefits.
In good lighting, the 12-megapixel shots from both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro look the same even at lower magnification, but spotting the difference may not be so easy. It’s when you push it a little that the benefits of the 14 Pro’s new sensor and image processing become apparent.
In the image below, taken in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the iPhone 14 Pro’s photo shows a clearer, sharper tree trunk than the 13 Pro’s. Areas of detail like grass also retain much higher resolution. You can click the full resolution image from iPhone 14 Pro and the iphone 13 pro easier to compare.
The iPhone 14 Pro’s lens on the main rear camera also has a wider field of view than the 13 Pro: 24mm vs 26mm. This can be especially useful for landscape photography.
iPhone 14 Pro can take pictures with 2x zoom
The iPhone 14 Pro has another trick. The 48-megapixel sensor can also take 12-megapixel photos with an effective 2x optical zoom. A new 2x option appears in the camera interface. This crops the center of the high resolution image and immediately increases focal length flexibility without the need for a fourth lens. The iPhone 13 Pro can also take photos with 2x zoom, but it uses digital zoom and doesn’t have the same quality or level of detail as this new tech.
The iPhone 14 Pro’s new 2x option helps portrait mode. Not only does it offer 1x and 3x options like the old phone, but it also lets you snap portrait mode photos at 2x. You can It looks better on facial features than a 1x wide look or a 3x zoomed-in perspective.
Look at this:
iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max review: Lots of upgrades,…
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iPhone 14 Pro vs. 13 Pro: Low Light Mode and Night Mode
The iPhone 14 Pro has a new image processing pipeline to improve medium to low light shots. Combined with the larger sensor, you can see the difference from the iPhone 13 Pro in every photo taken at dusk. See the details of the tree branches captured by Skyline in the photo below.
Newer phones have better noise reduction in low light, even without night mode. Dynamic range is improved in low light, capturing more shadow and highlight detail than older phones .
Especially for Night Mode shots, both phones use similar exposure times ranging from 1 to 3 seconds, depending on lighting conditions. The iPhone 14 Pro photo below has more accurate white balance overall. , with slightly improved detail when zoomed in.
Action mode is the star of video recording on iPhone 14 Pro
Both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro shoot in 4K at up to 60fps. The video images are similar when shot with the main rear camera. But the iPhone 14 Pro unlocks additional video tools like Action Mode. It’s like having a gimbal attached to your phone for smooth results on the move, but without the need for additional hardware. All done on your mobile phone.
Action mode crops the image slightly and reduces the resolution from 4K to 2.8K. But I think the results are incredibly impressive, especially when compared to the same video shot on the iPhone 13 Pro.
Chasing puppies, jogging on the beach, and capturing fast-moving tracking shots in action mode in front of a park waterfall yielded surprising results. The iPhone 14 Pro video image looks like it’s filmed with a stabilizer, smoothing out sudden jerky movements. The iPhone 13 Pro video is much more shaky. You can see examples of these action modes in the video below or at the top of this page.
The iPhone 14 Pro has a much improved camera, but the iPhone 13 Pro is still impressive
Apple’s latest iPhone has some big advantages over last year’s iPhone 13 Pro when it comes to capturing both photos and videos. Importantly, you don’t have to consider yourself a serious or professional photographer to take advantage of its 48-megapixel sensor. But the iPhone 13 Pro is still at the top of its game in most other areas, offering one of the best all-around phone cameras you can get.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max introduce sweeping changes like Dynamic Island, a new 48-megapixel camera system, and Apple’s new A16 Bionic processor. All of these upgrades come together to make for a fresh and fast experience compared to the older generation.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
The iPhone 13 Pro is the best phone Apple makes and scored great in our review. It adds a second rear camera, a stainless steel body, and a ProMotion screen with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz for smoother scrolling.
I have received a price alert for the Apple iPhone 13 Pro (Sierra Blue, 256GB).
