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Indeed. I wonder how SE2022 selling numbers are doing, since Apple obviously do not mind reusing that iPhone 8 design for years and years.
I think for Apple if it’s cheap to manufacture and there is a demand, I would keep it around. There is a large market of people who just don’t care about any of the whizzbang stuff. They want a small decent size phone that lets them casually use it for photos, list music and web browsing.
 
The iPhone 16 Pro: Meet the Phablet...again. Maybe the iPhone 18 will feature a detachable camera lens.
 
I really wish Apple could run customer surveys more often, asking people to prioritise what they want in an iPhone most (camera, battery life, screen size, notch, etc.). If they emailed their whole iPhone customer base, it would allow them to plan their new releases much better.

For me, already existing camera tech in a standard (non-Pro) iPhone since iPhone 12 is plenty and I would not like iPhones getting bigger and heavier just for the sake of housing this new camera setup.
You think they don’t have folks specifically looking at this? They don’t need to ask you directly. And as has been said, people don’t always know what they want.

I for one don’t think the photos are even close to good enough. Until they are at par with DSLR cameras with telephoto zoom lenses, I will welcome any and all updates.

I think you are in the minority. Camera and battery life improvements are my #1 and #2 and judging by apples roadmap and history, they know that.

Additionally, there really isn’t much more to work to increase besides software which isn’t very flashy to most.
 
I had an iPhone 14 Pro Max and was increasingly disillusioned with Apple's post processing algorithm. Photos were routinely over-sharpened and shadows over-lightened. The end result was unnatural. A landscape with trees was ruined by edge enhancement visible on every branch. Detail in faces are like the example of MKBHD earlier in this thread.

In January I had some spare cash so bought a Pixel 6a, just to have a play, and boy was I shocked! In so many ways the 6a was better than the iPhone 14 Pro Max and was nearly £1000 cheaper. I tool a great many photos side-by-side on both phones and in most cases the Pixel took the better photo. As a long-term (several decades) photographer, the Pixel photos looked more analogue and more pleasing to the eye without over-sharpening or edge enhancement and with more contrast. Bearing in mind we're talking about tiny sensors I found that a point and shoot Pixel photo was pretty much always better. I get that iPhone video is better, I get that iPhone raw mode is better, but for your average user who just wants to take a shot, the Pixel is better than the iPhone.

Suffice to say I sold my iPhone 14 Pro Max and have now upgraded to a Pixel 7a.

I'm not tribal about any OS and I always make sure I don't get entrenched in any ecosystem. I choose third-party solutions so moving from iOS to Android was not a problem at all. I have a Mac as my main computer and use Snapdrop to give me the equivalent of Airdrop functionality and AirDroid to drag and drop files to my Pixel. I don't like smart watches, much preferring a real watch - so moving between ecosystems is really simple.
I've never used an iPhone 14 pro max, but I have taken some pictures side by side with my wife's SE2020 and I prefer the SE's results in some cases.
 
One missing piece of needed hardware on the iPhones, the lanyard attachment. Just like the one on the AirPod cases. Every camera ever built has a lanyard attachment. One of the most expensive cameras, iPhone does not. After market option are terrible. The simple AirPod case lanyard port should be there.
 
I'm having some trouble really groking the thought process behind all of this -- but maybe my expectations are simply too high. (Maybe chalk it up to being an Apple fan for far too long.) Consider this train of thoughts, if you will: Apple is allegedly going to increase the size of the entire handset for the 16 pro series models... specifically so they can put in even better camera hardware? See, I'm not saying that's an unlikely scenario... but here's my issue with that approach:

Existing phone cameras (iPhone and otherwise) all basically work on an ultra-simple principle, which is nothing at all like traditional standalone cameras; install multiple fixed-focal-length camera lenses and swap between them to "zoom" the image. Which is to say, phone cameras have no truly seamless optical zoom capability; it's all basically just software magic. This is partly why higher resolution lenses don't necessarily always translate into correspondingly high-resolution images; the camera's higher megapixel rating is primarily being used by the software to enable this "fake" zoom capability.

Now, we're already discussing some pretty firmed up rumors of a periscope lens for the 15, which increases the zoom level of only a single lens. There's nothing stopping Apple from putting the periscope on multiple lenses in the 16, thus potentially explaining the link between bigger phones and "better" cameras... but even if they do that: by necessity, this also increases the difference between the zoom levels of the different lenses, requiring the device to increasingly lean on the crutch of that software magic. So unless they're going to add yet another lens to the already phobia-inducing array, this issue can only become more pronounced as things continue to progress, eventually reaching a point of diminishing returns where that software doesn't seem to be quite so "magical" anymore.

Thus: why aren't we hearing any rumors about a proper mechanical zoom? The LG module at that link could take the place of two of the existing lenses... but that's only part way to the true ideal: it's theoretically possible to create such a zoom apparatus which can obviate both of the extra lenses. This would all but eliminate the necessity for a lot of that software magic... and honestly, returning to a single lens on the back of flagship phones would also just look a lot more elegant than the current state of affairs. Perfecting something like this would be, to my mind, a very "Apple" approach to the issue.

(I know... I know: the obvious potential fault of this idea is that moving parts tend to have a higher potential failure rate... so I may be harping on an unreasonably idealistic notion that just will never come to fruition for technical reasons. At least, not until a true optical zoom lens can be implemented with no moving parts.)
 
lol what a terrible post to say Pixel is better. iPhone's quality is leaps and bounds better here. You can fix white-balance, you can't really fix the quality of the camera itself.
IME, white balance doesn't fix what iOS does to skin tones under certain lighting conditions, or what it does to bright yellow/orange tones (overly saturated). It's a little better on RAW images but still there. It's like a filter you're stuck with.
 
I think the problem with Apple these days is that they continue to mostly listen to themselves and tell people want they want.

I hear you. Apple, being one of the most successful companies in the world, with close to a billion customers, many repeat, clearly has a problem. Certainly no other company would want that problem.
 
You think they don’t have folks specifically looking at this? They don’t need to ask you directly. And as has been said, people don’t always know what they want.

I for one don’t think the photos are even close to good enough. Until they are at par with DSLR cameras with telephoto zoom lenses, I will welcome any and all updates.

I think you are in the minority. Camera and battery life improvements are my #1 and #2 and judging by apples roadmap and history, they know that.

Additionally, there really isn’t much more to work to increase besides software which isn’t very flashy to most.

This is exactly why I think polling opinions by Apple from as many people as possible would be a good idea. Can be a simple questionnaire, asking people to mark their priorities in their ideal iPhone:

1) Best possible camera;
2) Best possible battery life;
3) Ideal screen size;
4) Ideal weight, etc.

To make it even simpler, they could just ask people about possible advances to their current iPhone along the same lines - which aspects need improving or fixing.

They do not even need to read them all individually, one by one, the machines will do the job, telling Apple: people really want a 12 hrs SOT, bigger or smaller screens, etc.

Would be good, would not it? And everybody will have their say.

As for a DSLR camera quality lens, how are you realistically expecting Apple to fit it into a phone body? I mean this is why DSLR cameras still exist. Imagine a sound engineer wanting a high-end sound-card or amp in a phone. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
This is exactly why I think polling opinions by Apple from as many people as possible would be a good idea. Can be a simple questionnaire, asking people to mark their priorities in their ideal iPhone:

1) Best possible camera;
2) Best possible battery life;
3) Ideal screen size;
4) Ideal weight, etc.

To make it even simpler, they could just ask people about possible advances to their current iPhone along the same lines - which aspects need improving or fixing.

They do not even need to read them all individually, one by one, the machines will do the job, telling Apple: people really want a 12 hrs SOT, bigger or smaller screens, etc.

Would be good, would not it? And everybody will have their say.

As for a DSLR camera quality lens, how are you realistically expecting Apple to fit it into a phone body? I mean this is why DSLR cameras still exist. Imagine a sound engineer wanting a high-end sound-card or amp in a phone. 🤷🏻‍♂️

The fundamental problem with questionnaires like this is that they assume people are rational and honest.

I remember a survey they did years ago asking people what movie they would like to see the following week. A large portion of respondents answered they'd like to see a documentary or foreign film.

When asked what movie they would like to see tonight, almost everyone answered a comedy or action film.

The point is that there are some of us that may be able to accurate and rationally explain what we would like and what we would actually pay for, but that's unfortunately quite a small minority, which renders these types of questionnaires only marginally helpful.

The only true way to do this is to make different products and see which actually sell.
 
This is ridiculous.

If you want a camera, buy a camera.

An iPhone should be all screen, all day battery, comfortable to use with one hand (light, top of the screen reachable, and with a comfortable shape : iPhone X like not iPhone 14 like).

Apple has forgotten this, and it shows.

An iPhone isn't supposed to be a reflex mashed into an iPad mini.
If this is true, then Apple customers have forgotten this too. Studies show that the camera features are among the are most important to phone customers.
 


The increased size of next year's iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max allows for upgrades including a periscope telephoto camera and a 12% larger main camera sensor, according to a new report.

iphone_12_pro_sensor_shift.jpg

The rumor was first shared on Chinese social media site Weibo by a user who says that they have obtained industry insider information. Corroborating several other reports that next year's iPhone 16 Pro models will feature larger displays, the individual claims that the increased size of the devices will provide more internal space for components including a periscope telephoto camera system. Earlier today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the larger size of the iPhone 16 Pro models could help facilitate improved camera hardware or bigger internal batteries.

While the iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to introduce the iPhone's first periscope telephoto camera, the feature is expected to be exclusive to Apple's largest iPhone at first. With next year's iPhone 16 Pro models, Apple is reportedly planning to bring the telephoto camera to both of the "Pro" models. The increased size of the iPhone 16 Pro, is, therefore, at least partially explained by the need for more internal space to implement the periscope camera on the smaller Pro model.

For the iPhone 16 Pro Max or iPhone 16 "Ultra," the additional internal space will apparently allow for a larger main camera sensor that is 1/1.14-inches in size. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max currently feature a 1/1.28-inch sensor. No sensor size increase is expected for this year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. This claim has since been supported by the Twitter leaker known as "ShrimpApplePro."

A larger sensor could improve the main iPhone camera's dynamic range and background blur. It could also substantially enhance low-light photography capabilities since a bigger surface area can capture more light with the same shutter speed and aperture.

Article Link: Increased Size of iPhone 16 Pro Models Explained By Major Camera Upgrades, Rumor Suggests
I love my iPhone, but… Why are iphones the most money And yet they are still behind in so many areas?
 
Imo, the iPhone already got too large for practical use when they went to the 5. Now, it's just straight up clown show lol. I mean, at what point is enough enough? iPad mini size?
 
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Cool, but I hope the image processing software doesn't ruin the pictures taken by the increasingly-impressive hardware. The hardware doesn't mean much if the software simply overrides anything the hardware captures.
This guy gets it. Just like the M2/M3 gimmick where everyone this forum thinks they need it yet the only ones that do are probably in the 5% group.

This was actually Microsofts scheme in the 90's and Androids in the 2000's. Ask anyone that worked at a cellular store and they'll tell you how BS the new Android phone releases were but they marketed the **** out of it making you think you needed it.
 
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Reactions: 4odomi
I’m over here looking at 13mini’s on eBay just to go to 512GB so it lasts longer.

Btw that’s where you’re getting ripped with all the tech. The higher mp photos that look almost identical to the lower MP ones are eating up your space for that storage you’re paying for.
 
Definitely waiting for the 16 Pro
Well I think there is something VERY important for the iPhone 15/16 and onward EVERY iPhone user in the USA, and potentially abroad should be interested in!

Critically - in the USA the iPhone 14 Pro series having no nano-SIM was THE worst mistake Apple has ever done!!

This is more of a restriction that anything else almost binding you to higher carrier fees when travelling! No more simply forwarding your line (for non iPhone calls and sms authentication codes) and using a local country pay go SIM card at super cheap prices.

For me I’m going to be VERY wary of upgrading of Apple is stupid enough to expand this forcing of eSIM only going forward.
 
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The increased size of next year's iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max allows for upgrades including a periscope telephoto camera and a 12% larger main camera sensor, according to a new report.

iphone_12_pro_sensor_shift.jpg

The rumor was first shared on Chinese social media site Weibo by a user who says that they have obtained industry insider information. Corroborating several other reports that next year's iPhone 16 Pro models will feature larger displays, the individual claims that the increased size of the devices will provide more internal space for components including a periscope telephoto camera system. Earlier today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the larger size of the iPhone 16 Pro models could help facilitate improved camera hardware or bigger internal batteries.

While the iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to introduce the iPhone's first periscope telephoto camera, the feature is expected to be exclusive to Apple's largest iPhone at first. With next year's iPhone 16 Pro models, Apple is reportedly planning to bring the telephoto camera to both of the "Pro" models. The increased size of the iPhone 16 Pro, is, therefore, at least partially explained by the need for more internal space to implement the periscope camera on the smaller Pro model.

For the iPhone 16 Pro Max or iPhone 16 "Ultra," the additional internal space will apparently allow for a larger main camera sensor that is 1/1.14-inches in size. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max currently feature a 1/1.28-inch sensor. No sensor size increase is expected for this year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. This claim has since been supported by the Twitter leaker known as "ShrimpApplePro."

A larger sensor could improve the main iPhone camera's dynamic range and background blur. It could also substantially enhance low-light photography capabilities since a bigger surface area can capture more light with the same shutter speed and aperture.

Article Link: Increased Size of iPhone 16 Pro Models Explained By Major Camera Upgrades, Rumor Suggests
They should concentrate on miniaturising components not making larger phones, which are already close to being the size of a brick 😏
 
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Reactions: Sevendaymelee
lol what a terrible post to say Pixel is better. iPhone's quality is leaps and bounds better here. You can fix white-balance, you can't really fix the quality of the camera itself.
You absolutely can! The Pixel 6a, winner of MKBHD's phone camera blind test, has sensors that are years old - the Sony IMX363 and IMX386. They are basic 12mp tiny affairs yet Google's post processing algorithms can create photos from them that are amongst the best in the business. 600,000 people took part in MKBHD's blind test and the Pixel 6a came top, closely followed by the 7 series. The iPhone 14 Pro came 7th.
 
They tried it out with a mini and the public were not so happy, apart from a small minority, consisting of me and 3-4 other people I know.

Apparently, people wanted more size & weight per $/€, etc., just as with their food purchases. ;)
They shrunk a middle tier phone and gave it a worst battery.
That's not innovation!
The mini should be a top tier phone, made with premium materials (less the 3rd camera) and a battery that lasts at least 8 hrs, if they had done that, sales would have been far bigger, I would have certainly bought it then, along with I suspect millions of other users!
 
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