iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

[turbineseaplane]

I guess everyone loves iPhone photos more than me

I get these shots of friends kids that just look so over jacked and super processed and have a weird fake aesthetic to them.

I really dislike it

 

[CalMin]

Camera companies must be getting worried. I'm a huge fan of dedicated camera equipment, but the iPhone keeps getting better and better at capturing and already is the king of easy distribution.

Camera companies SHOULD be worried. I have two Canon dSLRs and a Sony RX-100 which are gathering more and more dust because the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 'good enough' in most situations, and/or gets a more pleasing image with much lower effort.

I'm no Pro photographer, and those of you that are can ignore my next statements (you know who you are and your skill and equipment will easily outdo a Smartphone camera). But, for the rest of us:

Point and Shoot cameras are becoming redundant - Since aobut iPhone 11, I stopped taking my RX100 with me on vacation. The iPhone photos (while inferior when pixel peeping) delivered solidly more pleasing images more often than the Sony with its bigger sensor and built-in zoom. This wasn't always the case, but for vacation snaps that are mostly shared on phones, tablets, monitors and occasionally a 4K TV, the iPhone images were just fine.

SLRs are becoming less relevant unless you are a Professional - Since iPhone 15 Pro Max I no longer feel the need to carry around my camera bag with my 10mm ultra wide and my beloved Canon 200mm 'L' lenses. There are exceptions of course, but as an amateur, the images I get from the iPhone Pro Max are solid enough for printing and sharing. They may just be 'snaps' but they are consistently good with just a fraction of the effort required. Anyone who has taken a camera bag on a trip knows how little patience spouses can have when trying to get the perfect shot. The iPhone works more often than it doesn't.

Consumer level camcorders are basically done - Since iPhone Pro Max, I shoot my video podcast in 4K ProRes log. It's so good that I can crop to 1080p HD and use as a Multicam setup while recording just one stream. It has enough dynamic range that I can be casual about lighting in most situations. Sure - this isn't true 'Pro' quality, but it's good enough for YouTube which is where the content goes. It's also a super friction free work flow when using FCP.

--

Basically, I am now at the stage where the iPhone works so well I don't miss my other gear. I have a few photos I have taken over the years that were 'keepers' and have had them printed and framed to proudly display. I'm now at the stage when I get 'keepers' with my iPhone with much less time/effort. Bottomline is I'm not going to buy a Point and Shoot, dSLR or consumer camcorder because the iPhone image quality is good enough most of the time, and sometimes superior. And I used to spend thousands on this stuff!

Lastly, the best camera you have is the one you have with you. This is now the iPhone - I take it everywhere. I can't wait for the incremental improvements over time such as a real aperture and better computational enhancements. It's a great time to be alive!

 

[fromgophonetoiphone]

This article makes no sense because as usual writers and most average users don't understand aperture. Camera phones by virtue of having small sensors already are all shooting wide open which gives you the shallowest aperture. There's literally no option to go larger, so I'm not sure what this will change.

If you look at the 15 Pro Max, all 3 lenses are basically the largest possible aperture.

 

[AppleTree01]

Can someone describe in more depth how this may improve the camera app automatically for users such as myself who do not care to do much in the way of manually taking better photos?

Also, it would be great if MacRumors could write an annual update article to compare what the latest iPhone is capable of in terms of photography compared to what the most common professional camera is able to do. This would help to improve a lot of the discussion we see here. As far as I'm aware the best content in this regard is currently found on YouTube which takes too much time to digest imo, or it's found on a blog post that I have to specifically go out of my way for (admittedly not much effort), but I'd much rather just get most of my iPhone news from 1-2 sources.

 

[MrRom92]

Don’t get me wrong this is cool, but it’s not gonna lead to non-artificial shallow depth photos with bokeh, like you approximate with portrait mode... The lenses on iPhones are already by design open as wide as they can go at their max apertures. The sensors are just too small for light to behave that way.

 

[jlc1978]

If all you care about are flat looking snapshots with everything in focus from a camera that can fit in your pocket, then any smartphone from the last 4 years will be more than adequate.

However, I can carry my iPhone everywhere (almost) a lot easier than my dSLR and L glass. Th only one I can see carrying is the one setup for IR.

Camera companies SHOULD be worried. I have two Canon dSLRs and a Sony RX-100 which are gathering more and more dust because the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 'good enough' in most situations, and/or gets a more pleasing image with much lower effort.

That's the key - it's good enough 90% of the time and the best camera is the one you have in your hand.

 

[Zwhaler]

LOL..... NO.

The difference in quality between even your most previous iPhone doesn't come anywhere near even cheapest entry level camera of the last 10 years. Take a Micro Four Thirds camera, that gets mud thrown at it all the time for its 'small sensor' still performs leaps and bounds better than an iPhone; noise, dynamic range and resolution; all better. Compare a smart phone to a full frame and the difference is even more painful.

But the one differentiating factor are the lenses; take something like a Sigma 56mm f/1.4 lens... you're gonna be getting a ton of light coming through the lens and beautiful REAL bokeh that smartphones cannot and will never be able to do; the AI stuff and that fake 'portrait mode' always looks like ass, especially around hair so there's really no comparison.

If all you care about are flat looking snapshots with everything in focus from a camera that can fit in your pocket, then any smartphone from the last 4 years will be more than adequate.

You're right and certainly correct about the quality, but the competitiveness on convenience is pulling more and more customers into the Apple / smartphone ecosystem.

The bar for what a customer needs their camera to do in order for them to actually go out and buy one today is getting higher and more niche.

 

[CharlesShaw]

"Is AppleCare+ worth it for the iPhone 17?" 😉

 

[ANDJOE]

Interesting since we have been trending away from moving pieces inside phones/computers. Adding tiny moving iris blades makes me nervous.

 

[iGeek2019]

I guess everyone loves iPhone photos more than me

I get these shots of friends kids that just look so over jacked and super processed and have a weird fake aesthetic to them.

I really dislike it

I don’t know if it’ll ever happen but Apple does need to “dial down” on how aggressive the software can be when taking shots.

I can’t talk for other people but there are times where a shot looks acceptable but once the stuff kicks in it’s meh.

I would say I (personally) feel it’s more noticeable on iPhone 15 Pro Max compared to previous models I’ve owned.

 

[teknikal90]

it's getting too crazy and weird. At some point I need to get off the "pro" money train and just buy a normal phone.

 

[macduke]

With a mechanical system, users could manually set a smaller aperture. This would allow photos to be shot with a shallow depth-of-field effect, where the subject stays in focus while the background is blurred.

Uhhh, a smaller aperture would be for a sharper background, like for landscape photography. For a portrait, you want a larger aperture to blur the background.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Apple better cool down these iPhone 17 rumors, they ruining the iPhone 16 marketing hype 😆

 

[Jensend]

LOL..... NO.

The difference in quality between even your most previous iPhone doesn't come anywhere near even cheapest entry level camera of the last 10 years. Take a Micro Four Thirds camera, that gets mud thrown at it all the time for its 'small sensor' still performs leaps and bounds better than an iPhone; noise, dynamic range and resolution; all better. Compare a smart phone to a full frame and the difference is even more painful.

But the one differentiating factor are the lenses; take something like a Sigma 56mm f/1.4 lens... you're gonna be getting a ton of light coming through the lens and beautiful REAL bokeh that smartphones cannot and will never be able to do; the AI stuff and that fake 'portrait mode' always looks like ass, especially around hair so there's really no comparison.

If all you care about are flat looking snapshots with everything in focus from a camera that can fit in your pocket, then any smartphone from the last 4 years will be more than adequate.

I have an older full frame (Canon 6D) with a few L lenses and a Pixel 8 Pro (I don't favor Android, but I got it for super cheap).

The primary camera of the phone has higher resolving power than my Canon with a wide angle zoom lens set to an equivalent FOV.
With the way phones combine multiple exposures, I get better dynamic range as well.

The full frame still wins if you want a shallow DOF, or if shooting in low light with faster shutter speeds, or when using a telephoto lens, but if I just want to take landscapes/nature photos while hiking on a trail, the phone is so much more convenient while rivaling or even exceeding the full frame in picture quality in many situations.

I'm not a fan of fake bokeh.

Sometimes phones are much to aggressive in their processing, but I use raw mode so I can adjust the processing if I don't like how the JPG turned out.

 

[routine_analyst]

"I won't hold my breath" is something that I routinely feel with these innovations that never seem to make the light of day with Apple's hardware.

 

[Tagbert]

Wow, borrowing features again from Huawei, this time from Pura 70.

DXOMARK

Everything you need to know about the Smartphone Huawei Pura 70 Ultra 📱. From specifications to Pros & Cons and Scores, discover the Review by DXOMARK

www.dxomark.com

The satellite SMS was a direct response to Mate 60 Pro.

Or maybe borrowing features from… cameras!

 

[ChrisA]

uh...first of all a smaller aperture would create a sharper background

secondly, fixed aperture in current phones means it's already wide open. being able to control the aperture would only mean you make the background less blurry compared to the current setup

Yes, you are 100% correct. It is clear that the author of the article is NOT a photographer.

I can't believe they got this so wrong.

I also can't believe they have not yet corrected the error in the story.

 

[joeblow7777]

stop with these "rumours" its over one year and history told us that real leaks/rumours starts after the holidays/new year

You’re on a website called “MacRumors” telling them to stop reporting rumours…

 

[ChrisA]

I won’t give up my Sony A7R, but it’s nice to see a necessary improvement over the crap computational photography solution. Physics > Software.

You took the article as being correct. They got the whole idea backward. How can closing down the aperture reduce the DOF?

The only way you are going to get a reduced DOF is to make the sensor MUCH larger and then you'd need a very thick phone. You are pretty much stuck with either a larger camera or software.

 

[JPack]

Or maybe borrowing features from… cameras!

The challenge is engineering the product. How do you make a mechanism that's smaller and thinner than other 1-inch sensor phones while maintaining IP68 dust and water resistance?

 

[yustas]

Mystery solved. The "slim" is going to be Apple's foldable.

 

[mejsric]

Yet another reason to skip iPhone 16 and all the AI fluff

did you skip iPhone 15 coz of iPhone 16 rumors?

 

[iGeek2019]

Interesting since we have been trending away from moving pieces inside phones/computers. Adding tiny moving iris blades makes me nervous.

Recall this being highlighted a while back here on Macrumors -

Exposure to vibrations, such as those generated by high-powered motorcycle engines, may impact iPhone cameras – Apple Support (UK)

Exposing your iPhone to high-amplitude vibrations within certain frequency ranges, specifically those generated by high-power motorcycle engines, can degrade the performance of the camera system.

support.apple.com

If Apple were to go down this route it would be “interesting” to see if vibrations may damage this too?

 

[allenvanhellen]

uh...first of all a smaller aperture would create a sharper background

secondly, fixed aperture in current phones means it's already wide open. being able to control the aperture would only mean you make the background less blurry compared to the current setup

Right on your first point. On the second, being able to use a smaller aperture (reducing incoming light) in bright scenes could allow for slower shutter speeds, especially good for video, where we currently see choppiness in daylight, especially at 24fps.

I think it would make more sense (if technically even possible) to put a switchable, built-in ND filter inside the iPhone.

 

[CalebOfReese]

Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information.

The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android smartphones have offered variable aperture over the years, such as Samsung's Galaxy S9 series.

With a mechanical system, users could manually set a smaller aperture. This would allow photos to be shot with a shallow depth-of-field effect, where the subject stays in focus while the background is blurred. Apple already offers this effect on iPhones with Portrait Mode, but it is artificially generated, whereas this change would make it natural.

Portrait Mode can occasionally have difficulties separating subjects in the foreground from the background, a problem that a mechanical aperture would solve.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 17 series in September 2025, and it is possible that mechanical aperture will be limited to the rumored high-end "iPhone 17 Ultra" model (dubbed "iPhone 17 Slim" for now). With the devices still being over a year away, however, some of Apple's alleged camera-related plans could change.

Article Link: iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture for Portrait Mode

Note: confusing language. This says “smaller aperture.” As a Video Professional, I can certify a smaller aperture gives a DEEPER depth-of-field, and more things in focus. I think you meant a smaller f-number, which is technically a wider aperture. 🙂