Are We Going to Pretend the Front-Facing Flash Is a Feature?

[Europa13]

Seriously, it's just embarrassing to see a feature that could've been added to any iPhone that can run iOS 9 and function exactly the same advertised as one of the selling points of new hardware.

It would not function exactly the same. It's optimized for the new hardware. It wouldn't work as well with the lower quality 1.2 MP front facing cameras on the older phones that don't gather light as well as the new 5 MP front camera on 6s. Also, the screen is different and allows it to get 3x brighter for the flash. If it doesn't work right on the older hardware, they make features exclusive to the new phones.

 

[protobiont]

Ok, I don't remember this from the keynote but I will admit this nullifies the thread. I didn't realize the display can flash three times brighter.

Kudos for being a decent human on the internet and graciously admitting a mistake. I was expecting worse.

 

[campingsk8er]

I doubt they needed a dedicated chip..

Snapchat allows for front flash

It's not just that though, not only does it flash, it does a true tone flash just like the one on the back where it "reads" the environment and does the right intensity/ colour of light!

 

[DustinDev47]

Kudos for being a decent human on the internet and graciously admitting a mistake. I was expecting worse.

Absolutely! I've responded quite firmly to both of his previous threads and he has been very respectful in his replies - something not often seen online!

 

[UDIDITAGAIN]

To all on this post.

My apologies for my inappropriate comments. In particular to MICHAELSD. I'll refrain from such in any future conversations.

 

[JohnApples]

If it doesn't work right on the older hardware, they make features exclusive to the new phones.

Actually, this isn't entirely true. They COULD have implemented this in iOS 9 for older devices, and just had it be a "dumbed down" version with the 6S being superior. They've done this before too.

iPhone 4 could get turn turn-by-turn in iOS 6, but didn't have voice guidance.
iPhone 4 got iOS 7's design despite not being able to display any of the "special effects".
iPhone 5 could do "burst mode" pictures in iOS 7, but it was much much slower than the 5S.
iPhone 5 could track health data in iOS 8 despite not having an M coprocessor.

I think you get the point lol. Apple has included slightly watered-down versions for the older generations while giving the newest device the best experience before. They definitely could have easily added a front facing flash for the older models, but sadly they wanted it to be 6s-only, probably only to make it have more exclusive features.

 

[cmjars]

Yes I am going to Pretend because I live in Hollywood and that's what we do

 

[Surf Donkey]

Lol @ special chip for a brighter screen. Apple is so....Apple on these smaller features.

 

[Mac7]

not sure if this has been mentioned. Not only does the new hardware allow it to shine 3x brighter but it also matches the ambient light, similar to the two tone flash on the back.

 

[Zwhaler]

It's one of the main selling points of the commercial for it.

Sorry, I haven't seen the commercial. That is pretty lame... but this is the iPhone 6S after all. It doesn't have that many new features. Three, most notably (3D touch, camera, A9 SoC). A commercial showing someone using the phone in regular use and saying "look how fast it is!" isn't very convincing as the 6 is plenty fast. So they resort to this...

 

[Cayden]

When I first saw the feature it also seemed gimmicky to me, almost like it was just stolen from snapchat. But now with the 3x brighter and knowing it'll look amazing with the 5 MP front facing camera I can see why it's a big deal. I wonder if we'll be able to use it in 3rd party apps like Snapchat instead of their FF flash

 

[barondebxl]

Embarrassing? Come on son

 

[0000757]

Sorry - remove this post. I misread someone's comments.

 

[macduke]

Ok, I don't remember this from the keynote but I will admit this nullifies the thread. I didn't realize the display can flash three times brighter.

Yeah they showed a slide with a little chip on the board that can pump it up to ultra 3x brightness but for a short period of time. It also balances the color like a True Tone flash. I'm not sure if the old FaceTime camera was good enough to get that accurate of a white balance read to do that. It's not a crazy feature but a nice one.

At least you admitted you were wrong about it. I applaud you for that as it seems like hardly anyone else around this forum is willing to do that. I'm willing to bet that this feature looks a lot nicer on the 6S from typical selfie distances than using a normal display.

I do wonder if there will be an API for this? I used an app that takes 3D scans of your face and it used the front screen as a flash from different angles but it was never bright enough to work very well. This would help tremendously!

 

[Europa13]

Actually, this isn't entirely true. They COULD have implemented this in iOS 9 for older devices, and just had it be a "dumbed down" version with the 6S being superior. They've done this before too.

iPhone 4 could get turn turn-by-turn in iOS 6, but didn't have voice guidance.
iPhone 4 got iOS 7's design despite not being able to display any of the "special effects".
iPhone 5 could do "burst mode" pictures in iOS 7, but it was much much slower than the 5S.
iPhone 5 could track health data in iOS 8 despite not having an M coprocessor.

I think you get the point lol. Apple has included slightly watered-down versions for the older generations while giving the newest device the best experience before. They definitely could have easily added a front facing flash for the older models, but sadly they wanted it to be 6s-only, probably only to make it have more exclusive features.

It wouldn't be a "dumbed down" version. It would be terrible. First off, the old camera doesn't perform well in low light. Second, the old screen can't get three times brighter due to hardware limitations. Third, the old camera can't adjust the color balance to compensate for what flash does to coloring. Combine these three things and you would have a worthless Retina flash on the older phones.

 

[lordofthereef]

I'll judge when I use it. It may actually be pretty good. There are apps that allow for this feature so they would be a good
Comparison to pit hardware versus software against one another.

I'm more annoyed by Live Photos. Why aren't those just baked into iOS 9, exactly?

 

[lordofthereef]

It wouldn't be a "dumbed down" version. It would be terrible. First off, the old camera doesn't perform well in low light. Second, the old screen can't get three times brighter due to hardware limitations. Third, the old camera can't adjust the color balance to compensate for what flash does to coloring. Combine these three things and you would have a worthless Retina flash on the older phones.

I wouldn't call it worthless. My wife has an app (I can find it what that is) and it's better than nothing in very dimly lit scenarios. I will say that I can understand them not wanting to add that though; it's not up to Apple's standards, I wouldn't say.

 

[capitanbuzo]

I hate the feature almost as much as I hate the 3D Touch short cut for selfies. The front facing camera is almost as much of a downfall for the world as cameras on tablets

 

[JohnApples]

It wouldn't be a "dumbed down" version. It would be terrible. First off, the old camera doesn't perform well in low light. Second, the old screen can't get three times brighter due to hardware limitations. Third, the old camera can't adjust the color balance to compensate for what flash does to coloring. Combine these three things and you would have a worthless Retina flash on the older phones.

Oh I'm sure it would be far from perfect, but I wouldn't call it "worthless". Heck, I've found Snapchat's front-facing flash to be very useful in lowlight situations. Do they look amazing? No, but it gets the job done. That may be why Apple doesn't include it though- they want it to look amazing and *only* amazing, since the camera is such a big feature on iPhones. Though, I'm sure Apple could have come up with something for older devices. At least the 6/Plus.

My post was really just pointing out that Apple has included lackluster features in older generations before. Anyone that's used the "burst mode" in a pre-5S iPhone knows how ridiculously slow THAT was. But, it's still there.

 

[sterl320]

Seriously, it's just embarrassing to see a feature that could've been added to any iPhone that can run iOS 9 and function exactly the same advertised as one of the selling points of new hardware.

Would you have rather them not do it at all?

 

[Europa13]

Oh I'm sure it would be far from perfect, but I wouldn't call it "worthless". Heck, I've found Snapchat's front-facing flash to be very useful in lowlight situations. Do they look amazing? No, but it gets the job done. That may be why Apple doesn't include it though- they want it to look amazing and *only* amazing, since the camera is such a big feature on iPhones. Though, I'm sure Apple could have come up with something for older devices. At least the 6/Plus.

My post was really just pointing out that Apple has included lackluster features in older generations before. Anyone that's used the "burst mode" in a pre-5S iPhone knows how ridiculously slow THAT was. But, it's still there.

Yeah, worthless wasn't the right word. But it would be far from Apple's standards.

 

[C DM]

Oh I'm sure it would be far from perfect, but I wouldn't call it "worthless". Heck, I've found Snapchat's front-facing flash to be very useful in lowlight situations. Do they look amazing? No, but it gets the job done. That may be why Apple doesn't include it though- they want it to look amazing and *only* amazing, since the camera is such a big feature on iPhones. Though, I'm sure Apple could have come up with something for older devices. At least the 6/Plus.

My post was really just pointing out that Apple has included lackluster features in older generations before. Anyone that's used the "burst mode" in a pre-5S iPhone knows how ridiculously slow THAT was. But, it's still there.

That wasn't burst mode they simply allowed the phone to continue taking photos while the shutter button was held down.

 

[C DM]

Yeah, worthless wasn't the right word. But it would be far from Apple's standards.

Bingo, that's really what it's about.

 

[JohnApples]

That wasn't burst mode they simply allowed the phone to continue taking photos while the shutter button was held down.

True; but it was introduced at the same that the 5s's burst mode was, so I think it was clear that they were trying to to give the older generations as close a feature to "burst" as possible.

I think it would be the equivalent of adding a front-facing, lower-quality flash to older generations but not calling it "Retina flash".

Meh, at the end of the day it really isn't that big of a deal. At most it's just a minor inconvenience.

 

[C DM]

True; but it was introduced at the same that the 5s's burst mode was, so I think it was clear that they were trying to to give the older generations as close a feature to "burst" as possible.

I think it would be the equivalent of adding a front-facing, lower-quality flash to older generations but not calling it "Retina flash".

Meh, at the end of the day it really isn't that big of a deal. At most it's just a minor inconvenience.

The timing coincided but I'm not sure if they necessarily meant it that way. In any case, photos taken with it would still work fine just not be at the fast rate. While photos taken with this bad flash would be just bad. So there's some difference in that aspect of it.