Apple suggests choosing the default 24MP mode for the best results when using the iPhone 15 Pro.
Highlights:
- The rear of Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max houses a powerful 48MP triple camera array.
- The default 24MP setting should be used to take pictures with the iPhone 15 Pro series, according to Apple executives.
- Apple claims that images taken at 24MP produce better dynamic range results.
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple’s most recent models, feature several noteworthy improvements. These updated iPhones have a titanium body, a USB Type-C connection, and a totally new camera system with a 5x optical zoom capability. The 48MP primary camera on the Pro models is larger, but it should be noted that by default, this camera only records photographs at a resolution of 24MP.
Recently, the Senior Director of iPhone Product Marketing, Maxime Veron, and the Vice President of Camera Software Engineering, Jon McCormack, explained the reasoning for this resolution restriction to PetaPixel. Let’s explore why Apple advises people using the iPhone 15 Pro series to choose 24MP photographs.
Apple executives advise using the iPhone 15 Pro Series’ default 24MP setting for the best results.
The iPhone 15 Pro series only has a powerful 48MP camera on the back, which is equivalent to seven professional lenses, and it only takes pictures at 24MP by default. McCormack provided a number of justifications for this choice. According to Apple, the standard 24MP resolution gives a slightly improved dynamic range and does away with shutter lag. In contrast, there is some shutter latency while using the 48MP setting.
When shooting at 24-megapixels, McCormack continued, “We capture 12 high and 12 low — we really shoot numerous of those — then we pick and then merge. In a sense, the range between the 12 high and 12 low is wider. In contrast to “high dynamic range,” which essentially merely caps the amount of processing, the 48 is a “extended dynamic range.” We can add a little bit more dynamic range to Deep Fusion with the tiny amount of processing time [with the 24 megapixel] that is available. In the 24, you therefore get all of the additional dynamic range that results from the 12 and the detail transfer that results from the 48, which is a sort of a “Goldilocks moment.”
Additionally, the executive disclosed that only still photos—not videos—can be taken using the camera setup’s focal lengths of 24, 28, and 32mm. This constraint is brought about by the fact that the iPhone continuously gathers data while taking pictures in order to process the final image. Due to the phone’s frame-by-frame information processing of videos, which limits the phone’s computational imaging capabilities, this approach is not practical.
Then Veron explained Apple’s image strategy. The CEO claimed that Apple wants to give customers a camera system that they can use to quickly and easily take real-life pictures when the opportunity arises. It also aims to serve photography aficionados who want to use the same camera to take pictures that will win prizes.
