Feature Request: iPhone 14 Pro needs an option to take non-RAW 48MP photos (with no Smart HDR) - 9to5Mac

iPhone 14 Pro comes with a 48-megapixel wide-angle rear lens for the archetypal clip connected an iPhone. It’s the archetypal upgrade successful megapixels since the iPhone 6s successful 2015, which came with a 12-megapixel rear camera. However, the lone mode to instrumentality a 48MP photograph with iPhone 14 Pro is to usage ProRAW oregon third-party apps – but I privation I could instrumentality compressed 48MP photos utilizing Apple’s Camera app.

How the iPhone 14 Pro uses its 48MP camera

You whitethorn inquire yourself: If the iPhone doesn’t instrumentality 48MP pictures by default, however does it usage the caller lens?

To enactment it simply, Apple uses a process known arsenic “pixel binning,” which combines information from 4 pixels into one. This is due to the fact that utilizing each 48MP requires overmuch much light, which tin beryllium a downside for photos successful debased airy scenarios. With pixel binning, iPhone uses the 48MP sensor to instrumentality a 12MP representation with amended prime and little noise.

The institution has besides introduced a caller 2x zoom successful the iPhone 14 Pro’s Camera app that crops the archetypal 48MP representation to effect successful a 12MP zoomed photo. This allows users to digitally zoom successful without losing explanation and without having to power to the telephoto lens with 3x zoom.

Since representation files with 48MP solution are overmuch larger than those with 12MP resolution, Apple has constricted however users tin instrumentality pictures with the caller sensor. If you truly privation to instrumentality a 48MP picture, you indispensable alteration Apple ProRAW successful the Camera app.

RAW vs. non-RAW

For those unfamiliar, a RAW photograph is fundamentally the archetypal representation captured from the sensor, with minimal oregon nary post-processing. It contains each the information astir things similar brightness, shadows, and colors that tin beryllium edited aboriginal successful representation editing bundle similar Adobe Lightroom. Because of this, a RAW representation record tin beryllium 15 times larger than a compressed image.

When you don’t person RAW enabled, the camera takes the representation and past removes immoderate of this information to effect successful a smaller record that takes up little space.

Many iPhone models tin instrumentality RAW photos with the assistance of 3rd enactment apps. Since the instauration of the iPhone 12 Pro, Apple has implemented this diagnostic natively successful the iOS Camera app with Apple ProRAW. Now with iPhone 14 Pro, Apple has decided to necktie the 48MP solution photos with ProRAW.

The problem, arsenic you tin imagine, is that these photos instrumentality up a batch of abstraction successful the iPhone’s interior storage. Apple says that each 48MP RAW record tin beryllium astir 75MB. Of course, lone existent “pro” users extremity up enabling this option, but everyone should beryllium capable to instrumentality vantage of the afloat 48 megapixels of the iPhone 14 Pro camera.

48MP compressed photos

I truly privation I could instrumentality 48MP photos without bloating my iPhone’s retention due to the fact that the lone mode to easy bash truthful is by enabling ProRAW. But wherefore does it matter? Well, I did immoderate experiments to amusement you each however photos taken with 48 megapixel solution are noticeably better, adjacent erstwhile compressed.

You tin spot immoderate of the results below. The images person been cropped truthful you tin get a amended look astatine the details:

Here’s different illustration that shows the level of item successful a 48MP photo, adjacent aft compression:

For that, I utilized a Shortcut created by developer Gabriele Trabucco (via Vadim Yuryev) that rapidly converts ProRAW 48MP photos to the HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) compressed format. HEIF is simply a codec officially supported by Apple that is susceptible of preserving the bully prime of images successful overmuch smaller files.

While each 48MP RAW record successful these examples is astir 60MB, the HEIF-compressed mentation is lone 3.2MB – little than the 3.3MB of the 12MP JPEG image.

For videos, iPhone users tin take betwixt shooting successful 720p, 1080p, oregon 4K. So wherefore not connection the aforesaid enactment for taking photos? I’m definite that a batch of users would take to instrumentality pictures successful 48MP solution contempt the compression.

Plus: I privation to get escaped of Smart HDR

Since I’m talking astir the iPhone camera, here’s different happening that annoys maine a lot: Smart HDR. This is simply a diagnostic introduced backmost successful 2018 with iPhone XS that uses AI to heighten photos by making a fig of post-processing adjustments. Remember the “Beautygate” of the iPhone XS? That was Smart HDR’s fault.

But backmost then, Smart HDR wasn’t arsenic assertive arsenic today, and users could inactive crook it off. Since iPhone 12, Smart HDR tin nary longer beryllium turned disconnected by users. While Smart HDR tries to amended photos, it ends up ruining immoderate of them by making them highly unnatural.

I’ve seen a batch of radical precocious complaining astir pictures taken with iPhone, and adjacent I nary longer similar immoderate of the pictures I take.

YouTuber Max Tech has made a large video showing however iPhone 14’s Smart HDR lags down compared to the post-processing of the precocious released Google Pixel 7 Pro.

I recognize that post-processing is important to compensate for the limitations of the hardware (in this case, the tiny camera lenses and sensors), but it has reached a constituent wherever immoderate of this post-processing is conscionable excessively much.

If idiosyncratic from Apple is speechmaking this, delight bring backmost the enactment to crook disconnected Smart HDR. I don’t privation to person to instrumentality RAW pictures conscionable to instrumentality vantage of the 48-megapixel solution oregon to debar this excessive post-processing.

But what astir you? Do you deliberation Apple needs to bring much options to the autochthonal iPhone Camera app? Let maine cognize successful the comments below.

Check retired 9to5Mac connected YouTube for much Apple news: