Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

827538

Cancelled
Jul 3, 2013
2,322
2,833
Clearly Apple has substantial plans for this sensor. They're not crazy enough to install these on millions of devices for the purposes of helping us measure people's height. Same goes for the U1 chip. I expect software features to roll out over the next couple of years that tap into these two things in useful ways.
The U1 chip will be essential for Carkey 3.0 and Airtags.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DanTSX

ice29

macrumors regular
Dec 9, 2016
179
138
Switzerland
Actually it's used every time you take a photo to make autofocus even faster, especially in low light such as indoors, as well as making portrait mode even more accurate for edge definition so the background blur looks better on the edges. It's also really handy for accurately measuring things in real life, but yeah, not as many people know about that.
To be honest, you can barely spot any differences in taking pictures with 12 Pro vs 11 Pro (not talking about the bigger camera of Max). As a hobby photographer with mirrorless camera I was really really looking forward to the photo-related benefits of LiDAR (I have hoped that the fake-bokeh can be made much better with it, even though this was not explicitly advertised), but so far it's been a disappointment. From camera perspective it's basically the same phone (it just has useless multi-seconds exposure in ultrawide without built in stabilizer... so the quality is a disaster anyway), portrait mode seems to be the same and the 11 pro was already focusing fast enough in the dark...
 

DrRadon

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2008
1,035
770
If the 13 mini gets LIDAR I will be sad.
12 Mini is the first new phone since the first gen SE for me, LIDAR was really intriguing to me (than again, I fancy the telephoto lens and the RAW photos as well so we end up in a place were I really just want a pro mini, ideally for unter 400$ :D ;) )
 

DrRadon

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2008
1,035
770
To be honest, you can barely spot any differences in taking pictures with 12 Pro vs 11 Pro (not talking about the bigger camera of Max). As a hobby photographer with mirrorless camera I was really really looking forward to the photo-related benefits of LiDAR (I have hoped that the fake-bokeh can be made much better with it, even though this was not explicitly advertised), but so far it's been a disappointment. From camera perspective it's basically the same phone (it just has useless multi-seconds exposure in ultrawide without built in stabilizer... so the quality is a disaster anyway), portrait mode seems to be the same and the 11 pro was already focusing fast enough in the dark...

Like I just posted, it's been a while since I got an uptodate (or even super expensive) Phone but in the past I always felt that no phone cam could ever compete with a proper camera that has a 35mm (or even bigger) sensor and thick bricks of glass in front of it. It just dos not seem to make sense in terms of how optics works and hell... from what I understand a properly scanned negative medium format is still delivering more data than the what majority of digital cameras you can get.
What you phone dos better is that it always is with you and that it's OS and processing speed outclasses pretty much anything in the marked. Honestly I am still waiting for the camera body that you can just slide your phone into as screen, processor and AppStore. Were the body essentially is only a lens holder, a proper sensor and extra buttons. You could kill cannon, Nikon and everyone else in a second because these companies are still stuck 15 years ago with their OS, Menus and such.
 

dampfnudel

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2010
4,586
2,626
Brooklyn, NY
I didn't buy the mini, I have SE2 but I think that the Mini is probably the best iPhone since iPhone 4. The size, weight etc. is just incredible.

Not fan of huge phones so eventually I will get the mini but probably in 2022-2023 the earliest. By then I will get so much more. :)

Lets hope Apple learns that even small phones have a market and people desire those too. Not just phablets nonsense :)
You may want to get an iPhone mini sooner than that because I’ve read sales of the mini is poor which could increase the chances Apple decides to discontinue it by then.
 

Darth Tulhu

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2019
2,250
3,770
More precisely:
iPhone Mini
iPhone
iPhone Max (or Plus)
The differences should only be the sizes (and the batteries because of the size)
Other features should be the same across as possible.
Don't forget the SE's.

Personally, I'd like to see 3 tiers for every product they make. They could do the 3 size thing without the max or mini designations:

iPhone SE
iPhone
iPhone Pro
--------------
iPad SE
iPad (current Air)
iPad Pro
--------------
AirPods SE (original)
AirPods (current Pros)
AirPods Pro (current Pro Max cans)
--------------
MacBook SE (old CMBP maybe?)
MacBook (current Air)
MacBook Pro
--------------
Mac SE (Mac Mini)
Mac (iMac)
Mac Pro
--------------
Watch SE
Watch
Watch Pro

It seems to me they're going buck wild at Cupertino with the name-reusing thing...
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: bklement

jimbobb24

macrumors 68040
Jun 6, 2005
3,354
5,384
The LIDAR is the most useless piece of tech. Did Apple get an amazing close out sale on them and feels compelled to include them in phones? The resolution for depth mapping is worse than algorithmic calculation from the camera except for the unique situation of deciding which objects are in front and behind in AR. I hope they surprise us in the next few years but so far yawn.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bklement

Lefteous

macrumors regular
Aug 30, 2007
129
86
I think Apple should change the aspect ratio a bit especially for the mini. Modern smartphones tend to be very long. It's comfortable for manufacturers to add all the stuff in a longer phone but I think the length has to too many downsides.
Even with the same notch height (at the top and virtually at the bottom for symmetry reasons) a 16:9 screen could be placed in the middle. This would make the mini top area even easier to reach one-handed at the cost of a line of app icons. This would allow for the on/off switch to be placed at the same position as in all iPads and early iPhones.

But I guess just the return of touch id would make me buy a new iPhone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bklement

me22

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2012
83
66
#2: The rumors from back in August or September suggested that the 2021 iPhones would also all get the triple camera set up. That plus this basically means that the only thing that would separate the “pro” iPhones is 120Hz, and I highly doubt that’s the case.
The Steve Jobs Apple would just be selling three sizes of the same iPhone. Sure, there would be a big price markup as the size goes up, and they'd overcharge for storage space, but there certainly wouldn't be two phones the same size with slightly different feature sets.

They could easily have three phones that are exactly the same with different screen and battery sizes and charge more for size, storage, and color/finish. It would simplify design and OS/app features and they could still price gouge all they want.
 

Populus

macrumors 601
Aug 24, 2012
4,815
7,088
Spain, Europe
Apple needs to go down two iPhone models, Pro Max and just iPhone 6.1.
Why not a 5.8 inch and a 6.5 inch iPhone? That would simplify the lineup a lot, and keep a big phablet along with a manageable (but not too small) size for the smaller one.
 

Populus

macrumors 601
Aug 24, 2012
4,815
7,088
Spain, Europe
3 of them.
iPhone Mini: $699
iPhone: $899
iPhone Pro: $1099
One 5.4 inch, a 6.1 inch, and a 6.7 inch.
I like your idea of 3 iPhones, but I would do it this way:

5,8 iPhone: 699$
6,1 iPhone Pro: 899$
6,7 iPhone Pro Max: 1099$

Let me point out that a 5,8" iPhone with the current flat bezel design would be very confortable in hand, and the screen real state would be bigger than the current 5,4" mini. And I like small iPhones, mind you, but that would be my ideal size. Why didn't I buy a 5,8" iPhone in the past? Because those round bezels made the phone bigger than what could it be now with the new design. Also, a bigger 5,8" iPhone could help the battery issues of the smaller iPhone mini, with a bigger battery, and even room for a normal sized Taptic Engine! Just my 2 cents.
 
  • Like
Reactions: snipr125

NotTooLate

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2020
444
891
Funny that folks are going "agreed with the 3 iPhones only , BUT i would like a different 3 then yours!! "
 

kerr

macrumors 6502a
Jul 12, 2010
837
1,549
Australia
I yawn at every news story about camera developments, I simply could not care less about the iPhone camera. Not all of us are slaves to posting images on social media.
 

snipr125

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2015
1,808
2,855
UK
You may want to get an iPhone mini sooner than that because I’ve read sales of the mini is poor which could increase the chances Apple decides to discontinue it by then.
Just curious where you read this, as Apple do not release sales figures of iphones. Or are these articles just guessing?
 

steve62388

macrumors 68040
Apr 23, 2013
3,090
1,944
Just curious where you read this, as Apple do not release sales figures of iphones. Or are these articles just guessing?

Even if accurate it’s largely pointless at this stage. Every year the high end models sell well out the gate, scooping up all the early adopter tech users. Then the mid range phones come into their own as the year wears on as the average user, who is not in a hurry, gravitates more towards the cheaper models.
 
  • Like
Reactions: snipr125

DanTSX

Suspended
Oct 22, 2013
1,111
1,505
.... and most likely 120Hz Display if that’s an important item for the user.
120Hz is going to negatively affect battery life of a single charge.

Im impressed by the 60Hz on my 12 Pro. Can hardly tell a difference between it and my IPP.
 

DanTSX

Suspended
Oct 22, 2013
1,111
1,505
I yawn at every news story about camera developments, I simply could not care less about the iPhone camera. Not all of us are slaves to posting images on social media.
That’s not what we use the camera for. And not all of use our devices to post snippy comments on tech forums.

Also your flippant use of the world slave in this context is troubling as it has serious real world meaning to many.
 
  • Like
Reactions: samsaek

steve62388

macrumors 68040
Apr 23, 2013
3,090
1,944
Also your flippant use of the world slave in this context is troubling as it has serious real world meaning to many.

The poster’s comment you replied to came across as a little grumpy, but to be fair you’re being way too sensitive saying this. A little perspective always helps.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.