iPhone XS 'BeautyGate' Test Tricks Viewers to Challenge Preconceived Notions

[MacRumors]

Following the launch of the iPhone XS and XS Max, owners began pointing out that the selfies captured on the new devices appear to apply a sort of smooth effect on the user's skin in certain lighting scenarios. This was quickly dubbed "BeautyGate," with some users accusing Apple of building the new iPhone models with an internal "beauty filter" for better-looking selfies that aren't 100% honest.

Photos via @tldtoday on Instagram​

In an effort to combat the BeautyGate claims, YouTuber Jonathan Morrison posted a series of selfies on Instagram and Twitter over the weekend. In captions, Morrison said these were captured on the Google Pixel 2's Portrait Mode, and asked his fans their thoughts on how the images came out, particularly if they were better than the iPhone XS.

Commenters said that the images rivaled DSLR shots and that the Pixel 2 was still among the best smartphone cameras, based on the pictures. Some even commended Google for producing high-quality selfies without the need for having a so-called make-up effect, and argued that the Pixel 2 had the best Portrait Mode of any smartphone.

After all of this, Morrison on Sunday revealed that both images were not taken on a Pixel 2, but instead captured on an iPhone XS Max.

BeautyGate talk starts at around 3:00​

So I just wanted it to be a little bit of a lesson out there: don't let a preconceived notion or headline skew your judgement. Because clearly, everyone who thought that it was a Pixel automatically assumed it was much better than the iPhone, when in fact that was the same iPhone XS Max that apparently had all of the BeautyGate problems.

Still, Morrison explains that there is something happening on the front-facing cameras of the iPhone XS and XS Max, but it's not a beauty filter. Apple's latest smartphones take multiple pictures at varying exposure levels, requiring noise reduction that creates a smoothing effect over the entire image, not just on skin tones.

Halide went into detail on the issue in a blog post last week:

The iPhone XS merges exposures and reduces the brightness of the bright areas and reduces the darkness of the shadows. The detail remains, but we can perceive it as less sharp because it lost local contrast. In the photo above, the skin looks smoother simply because the light isn't as harsh.

Observant people noticed it isn't just skin that's affected. Coarse textures and particularly anything in the dark-- from cats to wood grain-- get a smoother look. This is noise reduction at work. iPhone XS has more aggressive noise reduction than previous iPhones.

It's unclear if Apple will choose to decrease the amount of noise reduction on the front-facing cameras of the iPhone XS and XS Max as a result of the user complaints.

Article Link: iPhone XS 'BeautyGate' Test Tricks Viewers to Challenge Preconceived Notions

 

[aevan]

Always liked Jonathan. And this is genius!

 

[AngerDanger]

Commenters said that the images rivaled DSLR shots and that the Pixel 2 was still among the best smartphone cameras, based on the pictures … both images were not taken on a Pixel 2, but instead captured on an iPhone XS Max.

This is the best thing I've read in a while. Will we see many Android users jump ship to get that DSLR quality?

 

[Ds6778]

Well when your smartphone is your identity......

 

[Noiseboy]

Well done Jonathon, excellent piece of work.

 

[Ebok]

after the video was posted these fandroids were deleting their comments.

absolutely hilarious. the hate for apple or even how far these losers go because you use a certain phone is astonishing. they need to get a damn life.

 

[macduke]

Fanboyism at it's finest. The truth is you can't really go wrong with the cameras of the flagship models on either side these days. There are subtle differences between them and most people won't even be able to spot the differences.

When I make a smartphone purchase I first consider privacy, then security, then consider the design/ease of using the operating system, then the speed of the hardware, and then the design of the device itself. It is my opinion that Apple leads in all of the categories that matter most to me, therefore I buy Apple hardware. It also integrates directly into macOS, which I use to make money every day. There are other devices out there that might have longer battery life, or faster LTE, but those aren't things that matter to me. My iPhone battery lasts well over a day, and using a content blocker most web pages load within a second or two.

 

[klunernet]

This is hilarious. And thus, the effect is what the rear camera has been doing for ages with HDR on. Multiple exposures stitched together. (And in general, pictures taken that way do look better, I use it a lot)

 

[mazz0]

Those people were very silly. Those photos certainly do make him look like he's wearing makeup, they were blinded by prejudice.

 

[Nunyabinez]

I used to be a working professional musician and studio engineer. I always laugh when I hear people whining about how bad lossy formats sound compared to CDs (which are themselves lossy when compared to master recordings.)

Time and time again true ABX testing shows that it is extremely difficult to tell the difference and it can only be done on reference quality equipment with certain high dynamic range material like classical music.

My dad one time humbled me when I said I can certainly tell the difference between margarine and butter. He got out 10 saltine crackers with either butter or margarine and gave them to me randomly. Damned if I couldn't consistently identify which was which.

 

[rmoliv]

I like his videos but there’s something wrong with his teeth.

 

[Andres Cantu]

Don’t understand why Android fans have so much hate for Apple fans. This just proves it.

Just use the devices you prefer, no need to bring people down for what devices they use.

 

[MysteryMii215]

Ladies and gentlemen, WE GOT 'EM!

 

[a m u n]

 

[Skeptical.me]

I'm not sure what others here at MacRumors think, but I look like a cartoon character in Selfie Portrait mode. I wouldn't mind Apple toning it down a bit. I love the depth effect, though.

Also, if you aren't aware there's an App called Focos which allows you to take photos with the double lens camera with depth effect, and you can change the focus after the shot has been taken as well. It's a brilliant App.

 

[Ebok]

Don’t understand why Android fans have so much hate for Apple fans. This just proves it.

Just use the devices you prefer, no need to bring people down for what devices they use.

They spend hours on Internet forums and searching for iPhone YouTube videos putting people down in the comments. They truly have nothing better to do.

I don’t go on android videos and talk crap. I don’t care if you use an android, unless you’re my gf then you need some guidance in your life cause I don’t wanna see green when talking to you

 

[Skeptical.me]

Don’t understand why Android fans have so much hate for Apple fans. This just proves it.

Just use the devices you prefer, no need to bring people down for what devices they use.

Exactly! It's rather juvenile. And tbh I'm sick of seeing arguments break out online. In ten years time we'll probably forget all about these ridicules things. Total waste of energy.

 

[jesChexin]

I kind of love him for doing this. And Jonathon is so beautiful he definitely doesn’t need any beauty filter.

 

[BlindCinema]

Following the launch of the iPhone XS and XS Max, owners began pointing out that the selfies captured on the new devices appear to apply a sort of smooth effect on the user's skin in certain lighting scenarios. This was quickly dubbed "BeautyGate," with some users accusing Apple of building the new iPhone models with an internal "beauty filter" for better-looking selfies that aren't 100% honest.

Photos via @tldtoday on Instagram​

In an effort to combat the BeautyGate claims, YouTuber Jonathan Morrison posted a series of selfies on Instagram and Twitter over the weekend. In captions, Morrison said these were captured on the Google Pixel 2's Portrait Mode, and asked his fans their thoughts on how the images came out, particularly if they were better than the iPhone XS.

Commenters said that the images rivaled DSLR shots and that the Pixel 2 was still among the best smartphone cameras, based on the pictures. Some even commended Google for producing high-quality selfies without the need for having a so-called make-up effect, and argued that the Pixel 2 had the best Portrait Mode of any smartphone.

After all of this, Morrison on Sunday revealed that both images were not taken on a Pixel 2, but instead captured on an iPhone XS Max.

BeautyGate talk starts at around 3:00​

Still, Morrison explains that there is something happening on the front-facing cameras of the iPhone XS and XS Max, but it's not a beauty filter. Apple's latest smartphones take multiple pictures at varying exposure levels, requiring noise reduction that creates a smoothing effect over the entire image, not just on skin tones.

Halide went into detail on the issue in a blog post last week:
It's unclear if Apple will choose to decrease the amount of noise reduction on the front-facing cameras of the iPhone XS and XS Max as a result of the user complaints.

Article Link: iPhone XS 'BeautyGate' Test Tricks Viewers to Challenge Preconceived Notions

[doublepost=1539013513][/doublepost]Suck it Lewis Hilsenteger! (Unbox Therapy)

 

[Skeptical.me]

I used to be a working professional musician and studio engineer. I always laugh when I hear people whining about how bad lossy formats sound compared to CDs (which are themselves lossy when compared to master recordings.)

Time and time again true ABX testing shows that it is extremely difficult to tell the difference and it can only be done on reference quality equipment with certain high dynamic range material like classical music.

My dad one time humbled me when I said I can certainly tell the difference between margarine and butter. He got out 10 saltine crackers with either butter or margarine and gave them to me randomly. Damned if I couldn't consistently identify which was which.

I agree with you completely. Other than the margarine and butter. I can definitely tell the difference. But then again, I do tend to have more margarine or butter than spread on my sandwiches.

 

[Sasparilla]

Don’t understand why Android fans have so much hate for Apple fans. This just proves it.

Just use the devices you prefer, no need to bring people down for what devices they use.

Well said, it's important to remember there's also a good bit of astroturfing out there, as well as on this site (folks working for different vendors, Samsung was always a big one for this, pretending to be general users and attacking their competitors in comments of articles of competitors products).

 

[ender21]

Funnily enough, before finishing the entire article, I looked at the first two pictures and thought "those look no better or worse than the XS."

 

[ignatius345]

This is an interesting time for photography. The notion of what is a "photograph" is is always a moving target, and digital photography is no exception. There have always been layers of mediation between the original subject and the final produced image -- lenses, emulsions, chemical processes before, and image sensors and on-camera and post-processing in the digital age. And all of those things have specific intent behind them, are designed to produce a specific type of image that matches what people want to see. Digital photography is no exception, and we're just seeing the newest evolution of this now. Is anyone surprised that in an age of everyone projecting the most idealized version of themselves into the digital sphere, we are seeing cameras that smooth out the parts we don't want to see?

 

[sully54]

I’ve always enjoyed jonathan’s Videos. He’s one of the good ones out there.

 

[Scooz]

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