iPhone 15/Plus iPhone 15/15 Plus - 24 MP or 12 MP photo on zoom levels between 1x and 2x?

[Ternary]

If you take a photo on an iPhone 15 or 15 Plus (non-Pro) with a zoom level between 1x and 2x, is the resulting image 24 MP or 12 MP?

Why I ask: I'm trying to find out if it's possible to replicate the 24mm/28mm/35mm lens toggle feature on the 15 Pro with the non-Pro 15. I know on the 15 Pro, setting one of these focal lengths will output a 24 MP photo. Since the non-Pro 15 does not have the ability to lock in focal lengths, I wonder if taking a photo with the zoom set to an equivalent focal length (ex: 1.3x for 35mm) will process the photo to 24 MP, or if it'll be 12 MP just like when taking a 2x photo.

 

[Ternary]

Went to Apple Store today. At 1x-1.9x zoom, photos are 24 MP. This applies to both the regular 15 and 15 Pro models.

It might just be me, but I thought the same photo taken from the regular 15 at an equivalent 35mm zoom looked better than the 15 Pro with the 35mm lens. Maybe it's because the regular 15's main camera's focal length is 26mm compared to the 15 Pro's 24mm, so the regular 15 doesn't have to zoom in as much.

 

[JamesMcFlyJR]

Went to Apple Store today. At 1x-1.9x zoom, photos are 24 MP. This applies to both the regular 15 and 15 Pro models.

It might just be me, but I thought the same photo taken from the regular 15 at an equivalent 35mm zoom looked better than the 15 Pro with the 35mm lens. Maybe it's because the regular 15's main camera's focal length is 26mm compared to the 15 Pro's 24mm, so the regular 15 doesn't have to zoom in as much.

I have a 13 Pro Max with a 12mp main camera

and I zoomed in all the way to 2.9x and it showed that it was 12mp too which can’t be right.

 

[Ternary]

I have a 13 Pro Max with a 12mp main camera

and I zoomed in all the way to 2.9x and it showed that it was 12mp too which can’t be right.

That's because although the 13 Pro Max's main camera sensor captures ~3 MP at 2.9x, the photo is upscaled to 12 MP. So the 2.9x photo at 12 MP is not a crisp image.

 

[JamesMcFlyJR]

That's because although the 13 Pro Max's main camera sensor captures ~3 MP at 2.9x, the photo is upscaled to 12 MP. So the 2.9x photo at 12 MP is not a crisp image.

huh that’s interesting. thanks for the info!

wish Apple would have put that info (3mp) right into the photos app instead of showing it upscaled to 12mp. kinda misleading if you ask me.

 

[winxmac]

If you are going to take photo, just use the preset zoom levels... 0.5, 1x, etc.

Anything that is in between or not shown by default are just digital zoom/crop that gets upscaled to 12MP/24MP/48MP...

I never use anything outside of the preset due to quality discrepancy...