iPhone 15 Camera: Apple Explains UI Design Decisions, Limitations, and Hidden Features

[MacRumors]

Apple's new iPhone 15 series includes several new camera features, but not all of them will be visible to casual photographers, and Apple says it is relying on third-party developers to make these extra controls accessible to enthusiasts and filmmakers.

In an interview with PetaPixel, Jon McCormack, Apple's vice president of camera software engineering, explained the company's rationale behind this middle-ground approach, while also shedding light on some of the decisions it took when finalizing the iPhone 15 feature set.

"It really is, in my mind, all about allowing people to go chase their vision and this goes from the harried parent of a toddler where their vision is, 'can I get my kid in frame as they take their first step' all the way through to a pro or a creative who has got a very specific artistic vision in mind and want to get there as quickly as possible," said McCormack.

"Behind the big red button… the thing you're worrying about is the frame and the moment because honestly, that's the most inspiring part of any photograph or any video."

iPhone 15 Pro: Focal Lengths

iPhone 15 Pro users can choose from 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm focal lengths when taking photos, simply by tapping the 1x button in the Camera app. However, for technical reasons, these focal length options aren't available when shooting video, and the Camera offers a zoom ring instead.

"When you're shooting [photos], we gather a bunch of data to let you keep shooting and then sort of keep processing in the background, so we have more time and this is just something we can't do in video," McCormack told PetaPixel.

iPhone 15 Pro: Log Video Encoding

When encoding video in log mode, the camera uses a logarithmic curve to more efficiently compress the colors in such a way as to offer a wider dynamic range. This allows filmmakers to maximize dynamic range as much as possible without overexposing, or push the shadows as much as possible to minimize noise.

"We go for a middle-ground exposure," said McCormack. "When you go into log, there's no tone mapping so you can have much more precise control over what your exposure is."

However, while the iPhone can now shoot in ProRes Log, there are no on-screen controls or waveform in the native Camera app to control exposure. Instead, Apple is relying on third-party app developers to bring these controls to power users, which serves to keep the standard Camera interface uncluttered. Apple said it will also be providing LUT profiles to editors on September 22.

iPhone 15 Pro: External Video Transfer via USB-C

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max support USB3 transfer speeds from the new USB-C port, but only ProRes files recorded in 4K at 60p can be recorded to an externally attached SSD. All other video and phot modes must be saved to the iPhone first and transferred later. Apple told PetaPixel this was an in-house design decision focused on supporting ProRes workflows.

iPhone 15: 24 vs 48 Megapixels

Last year, Apple limited the default camera settings to 12MP, but this year it is limited to 24MP, despite the main camera's sensor's 48MP capabilities. The reason for this, McCormack explained, is that there is slightly more dynamic range when shooting in 24MP.

"When shooting at 24-megapixels, we shoot 12 high and 12 low — we actually shoot multiple of those — and we pick and then merge. There is, basically, a bigger bracket between the 12 high and the 12 low. Then, the 48 is an 'extended dynamic range,' versus 'high dynamic range,' which basically just limits the amount of processing. Because just in the little bit of processing time available [in the 24 megapixel] we can get a bit more dynamic range into Deep Fusion. So what you end up with in the 24, it's a bit of a 'Goldilocks moment' in that you get all of the extra dynamic range that comes from the 12 and the detail transfer that comes in from the 48."

McCormack also said there's zero shutter lag when shooting at 24-megapixels, whereas shooting at full 48-megapixel resolution doesn't provide an instantaneous shutter.

Keeping Photography Approachable

Ultimately, Apple's goal is to ensure that iPhone photography remains approachable, according to Maxime Veron, senior director of iPhone product marketing. "For the vast majority of our customers, we just aim to process everything in the background so that the process is invisible and out of the way so that people can take great photos and videos and capture beautiful, true-to-life moments in one click," she told PetaPixel.

Veron added that at the same time, Apple wants to meet the ever-growing demands of its enthusiast customers, allowing them to use the same hardware to capture images that can grace the cover of a magazine.

The full interview can be found at PetaPixel. All of Apple's new iPhone 15 models are now available to order and launch this Friday.

Article Link: iPhone 15 Camera: Apple Explains UI Design Decisions, Limitations, and Hidden Features

 

[dstow]

"The ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ and Pro Max support USB3 transfer speeds from the new USB-C port, but only ProRes files recorded in 4K at 60p can be recorded to an externally attached SSD. All other video and phot modes must be saved to the ‌iPhone‌ first and transferred later. Apple told PetaPixel this was an in-house design decision focused on supporting ProRes workflows."

Once again, does this mean we CAN'T record ProRes 4K60 to the internal phone storage!? Still no definitive clarification

 

[contacos]

I am honestly only missing tiny functionalities that I see my friends on Android use like holding up your hand and it will automatically take a group selfie. It is so convenient!

 

[Kylo83]

So they are saying 24mp is better than shooting at 48 how does that even make sense

 

[tomnavratil]

This is IMHO a solid approach because the available APIs are quite solid and many third-party apps took great advantage of these for both images and videos. The native app has certainly improved over the years however if you have any special, more advanced use cases, it makes sense to use a third-party app where the UI/UX might be more complex.

 

[iBluetooth]

Once again, does this mean we CAN'T record ProRes 4K60 to the internal phone storage!? Still no definitive clarification

No, it just means that you can record the ProRes 4K60 directly to an external storage while recording. The other formats you can transfer after recording. I guess it has to do with how much processing is done, but the ProRes has a dedicated silicon for it.

 

[iBluetooth]

So they are saying 24mp is better than shooting at 48 how does that even make sense

Because the smaller pixels have more noise, but if you combine four together and take the average, you get reduced noise and obtain a larger dynamic range. Plus, shooting all in 48 increases the storage requirement four times!

 

[Mitsjke]

So Apple uses the same main camera as the iPhone 14 Pro and then uses software to hold iPhone 14 Pro users on 12 megapixel and enables a 24 megapixel mode on the iPhone 15 pro, hoping they would update? Meanwhile they want less waste for 2030 and their greenwashing propaganda?

 

[dstow]

No, it just means that you can record the ProRes 4K60 directly to an external storage while recording. The other formats you can transfer after recording. I guess it has to do with how much processing is done, but the ProRes has a dedicated silicon for it.

Not according to apple's own litreture I've just come across - incoming disappointment

Record ProRes videos with your iPhone camera

Record ProRes videos with the iPhone camera to improve recording quality and enhance editing capabilities.

support.apple.com

ProRes is available for recording up to 4K at 30 fps. iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max can record 4K at 60 fps when connected to a compatible external storage device.

On 128 GB iPhone models, recording is only available at 1080p at 30 fps, with the exception of iPhone 15 Pro 128 GB models, which can record in 4K up to 60 fps when connected to a compatible external storage device. For more information, see the Apple Support article About Apple ProRes on iPhone.

Insanity, dedicated ProRes encoders/decoders on SoC and a 1TB storage option and no ability to record 4K60 unless using external storage - absolute nonsense from Apple there with yet another artificial imposed limitation, no doubt held back for the 16 Pro next year - tedious - "iPhone 16 Pro now features a 2TB capacity to record 4K60 directly to your iPhone without the need for external storage" - there's your marketing roadmap - suppose it's obvious

Even the argument of internal space not being sufficient ProRes 4K60 should come in at around 12GB/Minute so a 1TB should be able to record over an hour's worth of footage which is still plenty

I best make sure I carry a spare SSD out with me every time in the off-chance I may want to record in 4K60 ProRes, convenient!

 

[M1 Max]

Just bring a portable NAS or mobile server park with you. You’ll need the fallback and failsafe options.

 

[zakarhino]

One of the big quotes you missed regarding the 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm 1x modes is that Apple are claiming it's not simply the same as taking a 24mm full frame photo and digitally cropping it after the fact, each one of those presets has its own dedicated processing method applied to it to extract more detail.

One of the new software features that Apple brought to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max was the ability to set a focal length in photo mode: 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm are all options simply by tapping the “1x” button on the main camera. Apple enables this through what McCormack describes as a combination of the sensor’s resolution and Apple’s software.

“What we did here is we actually built dedicated neural networks so that when you’re at those focal lengths… we bring in in a kind of very kind of thoughtful and specific way, the pixels from the 48 megapixels to basically do a detail transfer,” he says.

This makes sense because when applying digital zoom in the Camera app before taking the shot (say, digital zoom of 5x which will use the 3x native module) you get a much different result than taking the pic at 3x and cropping in post.

 

[MayaUser]

Once again, does this mean we CAN'T record ProRes 4K60 to the internal phone storage!? Still no definitive clarification

no...it says that ONLY prores4k60 can be placed on external storage directly
So probably other video formats cannot be recorded directly to external storage
So yeah...still Apple way...too bad if its the case

 

[NightFox]

Is this the first time that Apple have left it entirely to third parties to support iPhone features?

I can understand Apple wanting to keep the native Camera app experience simple and accessible, but I'm surprised they haven't offered their own 'Camera Pro' app, in the same way they used to offer Aperture on top of iPhoto. Although they'll be offering APIs to access these functions to developers, that's still no substitute for having full access to Apple's private APIs, an advantage only Apple has.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

So Apple uses the same main camera as the iPhone 14 Pro and then uses software to hold iPhone 14 Pro users on 12 megapixel and enables a 24 megapixel mode on the iPhone 15 pro, hoping they would update?

No but they are given a tiny reason to upgrade instead of none at all so some (few) iphone 14 pro users will upgrade. However, the 15 Pro is way more attractive to 12 Pro (and older) users.

 

[jecowa]

I'm doubtful of how much extra quality we're getting with the 24MP images instead of 12MP. It seems like the photos are using twice the pixels for little benefit.

How is 24MP the Goldilocks? It's a very clean cut to take 48MP down to 12MP, but 24MP requires dividing by the square root of 2.

 

[laptech]

Leaving things for 3rd party developers to do is a cop out because when things do not go right, Apple can blame it on 3rd party developers for not fully integrating the use of all the camera's functions and features in the developers app. Basically Apple have set themselves up for the perfect excuse when things go wrong 'It is not our fault 3rd party developers are not using the camera properly'

 

[Zeddi92]

So they are saying 24mp is better than shooting at 48 how does that even make sense

More Pixels doesnt mean better images. I remember the fight between smartphones ten years ago. Where you could get china-models with 42 MP and above with an image quality of the good old gameboy camera. Nowadays you want to observe parameters like sensor size, pixel size, dynamic range and so on. You can watch comparisons between camera senors [eg youtube: RPi Camera Module Showdown: V3 vs V2 vs HQ vs Arducam (16MP/64MP)] and you might observe, that more pixels doesnt mean better images.

 

[RedWeasel]

Even the argument of internal space not being sufficient ProRes 4K60 should come in at around 12GB/Minute so a 1TB should be able to record over an hour's worth of footage which is still plenty

Maybe this has to do with thermal management, i.e. while the internal storage might have enough capacity, it could get too hot?

 

[allenvanhellen]

Once again, does this mean we CAN'T record ProRes 4K60 to the internal phone storage!? Still no definitive clarification

Can someone tell me why one would want to try to do pro video on a small sensor iPhone? Why not just buy a DSLR and get a big sensor with proper lenses?

 

[RedWeasel]

I can understand Apple wanting to keep the native Camera app experience simple and accessible, but I'm surprised they haven't offered their own 'Camera Pro' app, in the same way they used to offer Aperture on top of iPhoto.

Considering they have long since discontinued Aperture, I wouldn't be that surprised...

 

[coredev]

So Apple uses the same main camera as the iPhone 14 Pro and then uses software to hold iPhone 14 Pro users on 12 megapixel and enables a 24 megapixel mode on the iPhone 15 pro, hoping they would update?

Yes, it's the same camera, but a different processor.
Did you read the article, esp the part about zero shutter lag?
The faster processor in the iPhone 15 makes things possible that the 14 could not do.
It's not so much software holding the 14 back, but hardware enabling better outcome on 15.

 

[RedWeasel]

Can someone tell me why one would want to try to do pro video on a small sensor iPhone? Why not just buy a DSLR and get a big sensor with proper lenses?

That's really the elephant in the room here for me. It makes for a great marketing pitch of course.

It's a bit like the discussion about having (or not having) hi-res lossless audio on something like AirPods Pro headpones.

 

[melliflu]

Hopefully the new Blackmagic Camera app will allow us to fully exploit the hardware.

 

[desslr]

Can someone translate this gobbledygook into a plain English sentence for the rest of us?

 

[allenvanhellen]

I just want to be able to turn off HDR and sharpening. I thought my iPhone 5S took great photos, except in really low light or if I wanted to view them on paper or a big hi-res display.