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What's New in iOS 14.3: ProRAW Support for iPhone 12 Pro, Shortcuts Icon Changes, Cardio Fitness Features, and More

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MacRumors

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Apple this afternoon briefly released the first betas of iOS and iPadOS 14.3 before pulling the updates again, but during the time the software was available, some people were still able to download it and have been digging into the features.

ProRAW Support

As noted on the MacRumors forums, iOS 14.3 introduces the ProRAW format for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Apple introduced ProRAW when announcing the new iPhone 12 lineup, but said that it would be coming at a later date.

apple-proraw.jpg

ProRAW is designed for those who prefer to shoot in RAW but also want to take advantage of the Apple image pipeline data like noise reduction and multiframe exposure adjustments.

The ProRAW feature can be enabled in the Camera section of the Settings app for those who have installed the iOS 14.3 beta on a new iPhone 12 Pro or Pro Max. When enabled, there's a RAW toggle in the upper right side of the camera app that can be tapped to turn it off or on.

Photos taken with ProRAW are approximately 25MB in size, so photographers may want to use the feature sparingly if iPhone storage space is an issue.

Third-Party App Suggestions

Along with ProRAW support, the update also appears to add suggested third-party apps. According to 9to5Mac, there's code in iOS 14.3 that indicates Apple will show third-party app options to those who are updating to the software.

These app suggestions will be provided only in some countries where required by local laws, so users in the United States may not see the third-party app menu. It's not entirely clear which countries will see the app suggestions, but those that do will see this message: "In compliance with regional legal requirements, continue to view available apps to download."

Health App

The Health app appears to have a new section on Pregnancy .

apple-health-app-pregnancy.jpg

App Clips

According to Apple's release notes, App Clips can be launched by scanning App Clip Codes using Camera or from Control Center.

Default Search Engine

Ecosia can now be set as the default search engine as an alternative to Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. Ecosia lets users fund the planting of trees when searches are conducted.

Home App

The Home app appears to have new notifications for when accessories have updates available, which suggests that some HomeKit accessories might be able to be updated through the Home app in the future.

Cardio Fitness

Code in iOS 14.3 confirms a new Cardio Fitness feature for Apple Watch. "Apple Watch can access your cardio fitness, a strong indicator of overall health. To enable estimates outside of a workout, turn on Wrist Detection."

Cardio Fitness levels are available for users age 20 and above, and are estimated by age. Apple will send Cardio Fitness Notifications to the iPhone from the Apple Watch.

Weather

Air quality health recommendations are provided at specific air quality levels in the U.S., UK, Germany, India, and Mexico, with air quality data provided by Breezometer. Air quality data is also now available in China.

AirPods Studio

There's an icon in iOS 14.3 that may hint at the design of the AirPods Studio.

ios-14-3-headphones-icon-airpods-studio.jpg


Find My

Code in iOS 14.3 suggests that Apple is rolling out the groundwork to add support for third-party item trackers to the Find My app, as well as additional support for AirTags. Third-party item trackers and Bluetooth-enabled items will be able to be tracked using the Find My app, and it seems the first items with this capability could perhaps be launching soon.

Fitness+

As noted by The 8-Bit, the first beta of iOS 14.3 had a reference to Fitness+ in the iOS 14.3 analytics settings under Privacy > Analytics & Improvements. The setting was unfinished and could not be toggled on, but it suggests that Fitness+ may be released alongside iOS 14.3. The setting was removed in beta 2.

apple-fitness-plus-ios-14-3-beta.jpg

Home Screen Shortcuts

In iOS 14.3, it's easier than ever to launch apps with custom icons right from the Home Screen, which is great for those who prefer to customize their Home Screens.

shortcuts-home-screen-banner.jpg

When opening an app that has a custom icon created using Shortcuts, it is no longer routed through the Shortcuts app and is instead able to open much more quickly. There's still a banner that pops up, but it's a more streamlined experience than before.

Other Features

Know of other new features in iOS 14.3 that aren't highlighted here? Let us know in the comments and we'll add them to the list.

Article Link: What's New in iOS 14.3: ProRAW Support for iPhone 12 Pro, Shortcuts Icon Changes, Cardio Fitness Features, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/11/12/whats-new-ios-14-3/
Last edited:
zorinlynx

zorinlynx

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May 31, 2007
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I can't believe they're limiting RAW support to only the iPhone 12 series. iPhones since the 7 have had an API for taking RAW photos; they could have easily integrated this support for prior phones but they didn't because they want to sell more 12s.
 
M

Macropanda

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Oct 21, 2014
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zorinlynx said:
I can't believe they're limiting RAW support to only the iPhone 12 series. iPhones since the 7 have had an API for taking RAW photos; they could have easily integrated this support for prior phones but they didn't because they want to sell more 12s.
Click to expand...
I may be wrong but I don’t think these are technically raw photos... raw as in exactly what the sensor saw.
I think even with these there have been some computational adjustments made which is why the extra ram of the 12 pro is required?
 
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Return Zero

Return Zero

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zorinlynx said:
I can't believe they're limiting RAW support to only the iPhone 12 series. iPhones since the 7 have had an API for taking RAW photos; they could have easily integrated this support for prior phones but they didn't because they want to sell more 12s.
Click to expand...
I'm assuming they want to maintain the same user experience, and enabling ProRAW on devices with lower processing power and RAM would have too many negative consequences during capturing and editing. The way I see it, you could say the same thing about night mode or HDR 3.
 
Homme

Homme

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Jun 17, 2014
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zorinlynx said:
I can't believe they're limiting RAW support to only the iPhone 12 series. iPhones since the 7 have had an API for taking RAW photos; they could have easily integrated this support for prior phones but they didn't because they want to sell more 12s.
Click to expand...

actually the 12 pro lineup not the 12 series as a whole

also 6s lineup was the first to support RAW photos not the 7 ?
 
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J

Jensend

macrumors 65816
Dec 19, 2008
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One reason I like raw formats is that sometimes sharpening or noise reduction (especially color noise reduction) is much too aggressive, but it looks like ProRaw may be just storing the file at a higher bit depth and dynamic range, and perhaps losslessly, rather than actually storing all the data as the camera sensor captures it. (hopefully I'm wrong)

Also, sometimes the local tone mapping is too aggressive, and removes too much of the contrast from a scene.
 
Caliber26

Caliber26

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Sep 25, 2009
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zorinlynx said:
I can't believe they're limiting RAW support to only the iPhone 12 series. iPhones since the 7 have had an API for taking RAW photos; they could have easily integrated this support for prior phones but they didn't because they want to sell more 12s.
Click to expand...
It’s possible that having the A14 chip is part of the reason, as well as the Pro models having 6GB of RAM (compared to the 4GB on the non-Pro iPhone 12).
 
Caliber26

Caliber26

macrumors 68020
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Macropanda said:
I’m glad the prorate is a toggle in the camera app.
Very handy on a day out where mostly jpgs are fine but you want the odd raw file of a better photo.
Click to expand...
That’s how u feel about Live Photos. I never use it except for the rare occasion when I want to capture something cute my dog might be doing.
 
R

rjp1

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2015
612
2,007
How about fixing notifications not appearing?

Brand new iPhone 12 and latest iOS - came back from lunch today and opened the mail app and it downloaded 5 new emails that had come in over the past several hours. Notifications used to work immediately/flawlessly. They have been broken since iOS 12.
 
WannaGoMac

WannaGoMac

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Feb 11, 2007
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Based upon all the comments about iOS 14 bugs, I am SOOOO glad I learned my lesson with iOS 13 last year and didn't update to iOS 14 :) . Maybe I will update in April 2021?
 
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