iPhone 15 Pro Wins Best Camera in MKBHD Smartphone Awards 2023

[Wizard_of_Woz]

Wow, these aspersions are getting much more specific. Does he cheat on his taxes too?

I'm not sure about this one. You'd have to ask his accountant.

 

[canadianreader]

He isn’t the Messiah when it comes to phones it’s just his opinion which is subjective he gave the Google pixel eight best phone of the year that’s nonsense. Why do people think that what he says is the blueprint to tech?

He's the biggest Google fan you won't see much of any privacy and security education on his channel.

 

[treyjustice]

I enjoyed this video and most of his videos.

 

[that be me]

Yeah but…you could just turn that down on a 120Hz display and have the best of both worlds. It needs to be a separate toggle but you can do it right now with Low Power mode.

Settings>Accessibility>Motion>Limit frame rate

 

[Skyscraperfan]

And if you're talking about some absurd DSLR or mirrorless monstrosity, then you're really missing the entire point.

The best camera is the one you have in your hand.

What counts is do the photos satisfy the photographer? If the answer is yes, then it is a real camera; and at any rate the camera, real or not, is only as good as the eye behind the lens.

Yes, Smartphones have the advantage that you always have them in your pocket. Of course I do have my DSLR with me if I go grocery shopping for example. I find it problematic though that some people go on a vacation for thousands of dollars and really think that a smartphone can replace a large camera just because those photos may look great on Instagram.

It reminds me of people in my university who listened to music on their notebook. And that was long ago. Notebook speakers had a horrible sound quality back then, but some people did not really seem to care.

Some people even eat frozen pizzas from the supermarket. The ones you can buy for two dollars or so. If the alternative is starving, such a pizza might be okay, but a real pizza is so much better. I decided to completely ban frozen pizzas from my menu.

 

[beermode]

My honest take: This is cool. Good for iPhone. But I stopped caring about this dude's opinion so long ago. He's a professional troll who's good at video editing.

Edit: I should clarify what I mean-- He is someone in a long list of "YouTubers" who thinks he knows things about things and is good at talking about them as if he's an expert. He has no idea what goes on at Apple or how any of this stuff is created. He's a professional armchair quarterback. The most useless kind of quarterback there is.

He's an overnight expert in transportation and F1 racing. The guy made a video explaining F1 to for us plebs. I feel blessed.

 

[AgeOfSpiracles]

Yes, Smartphones have the advantage that you always have them in your pocket. Of course I do have my DSLR with me if I go grocery shopping for example. I find it problematic though that some people go on a vacation for thousands of dollars and really think that a smartphone can replace a large camera just because those photos may look great on Instagram.

It reminds me of people in my university who listened to music on their notebook. And that was long ago. Notebook speakers had a horrible sound quality back then, but some people did not really seem to care.

Some people even eat frozen pizzas from the supermarket. The ones you can buy for two dollars or so. If the alternative is starving, such a pizza might be okay, but a real pizza is so much better. I decided to completely ban frozen pizzas from my menu.

You're taking your own photos on vacation? Is your personal photographer sick?

 

[everlast3434]

Imagine being so arrogant that you make up your own awards lol.

 

[d5aqoëp]

My honest take: This is cool. Good for iPhone. But I stopped caring about this dude's opinion so long ago. He's a professional troll who's good at video editing.

Edit: I should clarify what I mean-- He is someone in a long list of "YouTubers" who thinks he knows things about things and is good at talking about them as if he's an expert. He has no idea what goes on at Apple or how any of this stuff is created. He's a professional armchair quarterback. The most useless kind of quarterback there is.

While I partially agree with you, he (MKBHD) does have the skill to elucidate his thoughts very neatly and make them palatable to an average joe. He did have very humble beginnings and has come a long way. But as you grow famous and popular, there is a certain level of Corporate-ness which comes with the success and one constantly worries about dishing out one video after another to keep subscribers happy. Certain fine details get ignored and there are some missteps. Linus of LMG suffers from same issue. Cut them some slack and watch another non-famous youtubers for their brutally honest opinions.

My hot take after using iPhone 15 Pro Max for 2 months:
My phone has terrible time to autofocus on some near objects. Same issue was present in 14 Pro Max too. I was shocked that this issue was not fixed in 15 PM. The night photos are roughly the same and this year’s cameras didn’t feel like any substantial upgrade over last year’s. My $220 Lava Agni 2 android does autofocus far far better on near objects especially under low light conditions.

 

[jlc1978]

Yes, Smartphones have the advantage that you always have them in your pocket. Of course I do have my DSLR with me if I go grocery shopping for example.

(I'm guessing you meant do not)

Having lugged a dSLR and L glass around, I find it too cumbersome for everyday use. Special occasions re a different story, or if I just want to play around with composition, etc.

I find it problematic though that some people go on a vacation for thousands of dollars and really think that a smartphone can replace a large camera just because those photos may look great on Instagram.

My POV is if they find them good enough then they are good enough; and many phones' fotos are good enough. Considering, from what I've seen, many dSLR users used them as P&S anyway, shotgunning fotos in the A mode.
A phone camera is, IMHO, a far better and easier to use tool in such cases.

It reminds me of people in my university who listened to music on their notebook. And that was long ago. Notebook speakers had a horrible sound quality back then, but some people did not really seem to care.

Sound wars. If the person was happy then that's all they need; says someone who considers an Amazon Echo a high quality music playback device. I can't really tell the difference until you get into the high end stuff, and am not willing to pay 100x or more for what I would find a slightly better experience.
Too each their own.

Some people even eat frozen pizzas from the supermarket. The ones you can buy for two dollars or so. If the alternative is starving, such a pizza might be okay, but a real pizza is so much better. I decided to completely ban frozen pizzas from my menu.

if it isn't Chicago style it isn't real pizza...

Imagine being so arrogant that you make up your own awards lol.

I award this post the jlc1978 Post of the Moment Award for 20 Dec 2023. Feel free to add "Winner of the jlc1978 Post of the Moment Award for 20 Dec 2023" to your sig...

 

[cutlub]

Like him or not, Marques' audience is one of their key demographics. Hence, his quote during the keynote.

 

[hans1972]

It's so funny, there's people here saying he's not to be trusted as a know-nothing with no insight into Apple's practices. And other people saying that he's not to be trusted because he's an insider shill since he has done interviews with Apple execs. The MR crowd just skews stodgy, and tends toward an irrational hatred of youtubers. The only thing that brings out the grumps more is any mention of a music artist under the age of 30. (who? never heard of her, but she sucks and I hate her!)

Having watched a lot of these low-info tech reviewer channels for years, I'd put MKBHD in the top 3 in terms of content and honesty. I don't think he intentionally stirs the pot or trolls. He certainly doesn't shill for Apple, IMO. If anything, he's an Android fanboy at heart, but he's fair and openminded, and therefore see's the good in both platforms.

Lot's of people, without knowing it, adheres to the Law of Jante when it comes to successful people:

1. You're not to think you are anything special.
2. You're not to think you are as good as we are.
3. You're not to think you are smarter than we are.
4. You're not to imagine yourself better than we are.
5. You're not to think you know more than we do.
6. You're not to think you are more important than we are.
7. You're not to think you are good at anything.
8. You're not to laugh at us.
9. You're not to think anyone cares about you.
10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.

Law of Jante - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's based on the experience of the the Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose, growing up in a Danish town over a hundred years ago, but I find the sentiment almost universal.

 

[bousozoku]

The Pixel exists as an ad platform for Google so of course it’s cheap. It’s also going to be a piece of junk in two years if all their previous models are any indication.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying there’s a reason it’s cheaper than the iPhone upfront but possibly more expensive in the long run.

Ad platform?

I've had a Pixel 6a for a while and it's so weak that I haven't seen any of the advertisements you suggest.

Before the Tensor SoC, they had some good phones. Now, all they have are cameras with a phone included.

 

[RickDEGH]

My honest take: This is cool. Good for iPhone. But I stopped caring about this dude's opinion so long ago. He's a professional troll who's good at video editing.

Edit: I should clarify what I mean-- He is someone in a long list of "YouTubers" who thinks he knows things about things and is good at talking about them as if he's an expert. He has no idea what goes on at Apple or how any of this stuff is created. He's a professional armchair quarterback. The most useless kind of quarterback there is.

And you do know what goes on at Apple and how the stuff are created, so you are able to tell when someone else is clueless, right? 🙄
At least he is quoted by Apple and MacRumors and has interviewed some of the top people leading the tech companies you and I both are interested in right now. Who’s the keyboard quarterback?

 

[DeepIn2U]

My honest take: This is cool. Good for iPhone. But I stopped caring about this dude's opinion so long ago. He's a professional troll who's good at video editing.

Edit: I should clarify what I mean-- He is someone in a long list of "YouTubers" who thinks he knows things about things and is good at talking about them as if he's an expert. He has no idea what goes on at Apple or how any of this stuff is created. He's a professional armchair quarterback. The most useless kind of quarterback there is.

Marques mentioned the S23 yet completely points to another manufacturers device.

Sorry I still claim paid awards. Man has been googly eyed on anything pixel for the last 4yrs already. No wonder it's the best all around phone. Lined pockets baby lined pockets. Keeps gushing over the onePlus open but barely reviewed it fully he's not reviewed competing products and all their offerings either.

 

[alphaswift]

YouTube influencers 🙄. I like Marques but he's not an Apple guy, which is fine. If iJustine did a smartphone award her list would be somewhat different I'm sure.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Ad platform?

I've had a Pixel 6a for a while and it's so weak that I haven't seen any of the advertisements you suggest.

Before the Tensor SoC, they had some good phones. Now, all they have are cameras with a phone included.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here. Do you like the phone? I can’t tell.

I should have been more accurate to say that the point of Android first and foremost was to shut Microsoft out of mobile. Then to protect Google search and thus search ads. Thirdly for direct tracking and analysis of all the data that comes out of the phone. Since they control it top to bottom they can collect every single bit of data they are legally allowed to, and they push it as far as they can. That’s why they want you to use Google Fi and Google VPN and Google DNS on Google Chrome.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Settings>Accessibility>Motion>Limit frame rate

Of course it’s under Accessibility with all the other good settings Apple grudgingly allows. Thank you.

Edit: to be clear Apple is obviously the best computer company about accessibility in the world. Which makes it all the more obvious when they crammed something in there they really would have preferred not to offer an option about.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I agree that it was funny to see the lower (not low, but lower) refresh rate used as a plus. 🤣

But it's a realistic judgement. How much does 60Hz reduce the experience?

When a phone comes out with a 240Hz screen, will 120Hz suddenly be "too slow"? #perspective

Exactly. You say not low but lower, but as you also say it is subjective. 60Hz is already as low as it gets for general purpose. The only reason any display goes lower is to save even more power then it immediately kicks back up to at least 60 when something is going on.

For me personally any display that’s meant to be more than glanced at needs to be higher than 60Hz. Now that my phone and desktop display are, other displays look broken to me. Maybe it’s just entitlement but even the article says “compared to rivals” implying that almost every other phone has a higher refresh rate display.

Considering 60Hz is a very old standard and is now in the minority among new mobile phones, I think it’s fair to call it low refresh rate. Even bottom barrel Android phones are 90Hz now.

 

[AgeOfSpiracles]

Of course it’s under Accessibility with all the other good settings Apple grudgingly allows. Thank you.

On the plus side, being an Accessibility feature means that you can tie it to a triple click to enable/disable, sort of like an action button.

 

[AgeOfSpiracles]

Exactly. You say not low but lower, but as you also say it is subjective. 60Hz is already as low as it gets for general purpose. The only reason any display goes lower is to save even more power then it immediately kicks back up to at least 60 when something is going on.

For me personally any display that’s meant to be more than glanced at needs to be higher than 60Hz. Now that my phone and desktop display are, other displays look broken to me. Maybe it’s just entitlement but even the article says “compared to rivals” implying that almost every other phone has a higher refresh rate display.

Considering 60Hz is a very old standard and is now in the minority among new mobile phones, I think it’s fair to call it low refresh rate. Even bottom barrel Android phones are 90Hz now.

It's weird, when my wife (iphone 13) and I (13 pro) got our phones, it was my first 60Hz phone and using hers was very obvious and not great. But as time has gone on, I can't say that I even notice it any more on the rare occasion that I use her phone.

 

[justdanyul]

There is so much bias in the YouTube creator community, I genuine cant comprehend why anybody would take any of them serious for stuff like this. People must be able to see its just elaborate advertising, and even more so, each of them caters to a very specific customer segment, and tend to have views and conclusions that are compatible with said segment.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy YouTube, and many YouTubers are entertaining. But, I don't trust them any more as an authority on anything, than I trust the handsome model in the TV advert trying to convince me I will be the centre of the universe if I just use their aftershave.

 

[ThaRuler]

This guy is hands down the best YouTuber out there. With Dave2d being my second favorite. But that’s just my opinion. It doesn’t mean I’m right. But it doesn’t mean I’m wrong either.

 

[jaehaerys48]

You can still be an Apple shill and give another company phone of the year, if that was the best phone in 2023. This doesn't change anything. MKB still drools over everything Apple.

Person praises Apple: they must be an Apple shill
Person praises companies that aren't Apple: they must be an Apple shill

This is why "shill" is up there on the list of terms made meaningless by the internet lol.

Who?

Since when are people creating so called awards and give them to companies?.

My just now completely made up and totally irrelevant award goes to Company .. Congrats to them and I hope like it.

I mean, you can do that. Anyone can. And if you build up an audience of 18m people then other websites will probably report on your award.

 

[CarAnalogy]

It's weird, when my wife (iphone 13) and I (13 pro) got our phones, it was my first 60Hz phone and using hers was very obvious and not great. But as time has gone on, I can't say that I even notice it any more on the rare occasion that I use her phone.

I guess I’m just blessed with good eyes. Even as a kid before I knew what it was the refresh rate bothered me. It doesn’t bother me on other people’s devices because I’m used to using different computers that aren’t mine. But when it is mine, I can’t stand it.