iPhone 14 Pro Cameras vs. 13 Pro: All the Ways They're Different - CNET

This communicative is portion of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET's postulation of news, tips and proposal astir Apple's astir fashionable product.

Apple's iPhone 14 Pro has respective camera systems and show improvements that person led to stellar reviews, including a 48-megapixel sensor and the company's caller image-processing method called the Photonic Engine. This instantly puts the iPhone 14 Pro astatine an vantage implicit past year's iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, astatine slightest connected paper. 

But bash these caller hardware and bundle features really marque a real-world difference? 

To find out, I compared the cameras connected some phones successful a scope of challenging situations astir San Francisco. All these photos were taken successful the default camera app connected the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro, some moving the latest mentation of iOS 16. 

You tin find retired much successful a heavy dive astir the specific improvements to the iPhone 14 Pro's camera system, by my workfellow Stephen Shankland. CNET's Patrick Holland besides has a great investigation of the iPhone 14 Pro's photos and however the Photonic Engine helps boost photograph prime successful challenging lighting conditions.

Lexy Savvides/CNET

The iPhone 14 Pro 48-megapixel sensor captures much detail

On the hardware front, the biggest alteration betwixt the 2 phones is the 14 Pro's caller 48-megapixel sensor connected the main wide camera that's besides physically larger than the older iPhone, which makes conscionable arsenic overmuch of a quality to photograph prime arsenic the summation successful megapixels. The 13 Pro uses a 12-megapixel sensor.

Using a method called pixel binning, the iPhone 14 Pro joins 4 pixels unneurotic into groups to seizure 12-megapixel photos with much detail. You tin besides instrumentality a afloat 48-megapixel representation if you sprout successful Apple's ProRaw format, and that gives photographers much flexibility erstwhile it comes to editing and recovering shadiness and item item among galore different advantages.

In bully lighting, the 12-megapixel shots from some the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro look akin astatine reduced magnification, and it mightiness not beryllium that casual to spot the difference. It's erstwhile you propulsion successful a spot that the advantages of the 14 Pro's caller sensor and representation processing go clear.

In the images beneath that I captured successful San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the histrion trunks are much defined and sharper connected the iPhone 14 Pro's photograph than those connected the 13 Pro. Areas of good detail, similar grass, besides clasp overmuch much resolution. You tin click done to the afloat solution representation from the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro to comparison much easily.

The iPhone 14 Pro's lens connected the main rear camera besides has a wider tract of presumption than the 13 Pro's: 24mm versus 26mm. This means you tin get a small much successful your shot, which mightiness beryllium particularly adjuvant for scenery photography.

The iPhone 14 Pro tin instrumentality photos astatine 2x zoom

The iPhone 14 Pro besides has different instrumentality up its sleeve: The 48-megapixel sensor tin besides instrumentality 12-megapixel shots astatine an effectual 2x optical zoom. You'll spot a caller 2x enactment successful the camera interface. That crops the halfway of the higher-resolution representation to instantly springiness you much flexibility with focal length, without needing a 4th lens. The iPhone 13 Pro tin besides instrumentality photos astatine 2x zoom, but it uses integer zoom and doesn't person the aforesaid prime oregon level of item arsenic this caller technique.

I find the caller 2x enactment connected the iPhone 14 Pro helps with representation mode. Instead of conscionable offering 1x and 3x options similar connected the older phone, it tin besides drawback representation mode photos astatine 2x. This results successful much natural-looking shots to my eye. I find it's much flattering connected facial features than the wide look from 1x, oregon the zoomed-in position astatine 3x.

iPhone 14 Pro vs. 13 Pro: Low-light and nighttime mode

The iPhone 14 Pro has a caller representation processing pipeline to assistance amended mean to low-light shots. Combined with the larger sensor, I tin spot the quality compared to the iPhone 13 Pro successful each the photos I changeable astatine dusk. In the photos below, instrumentality a look astatine the item captured connected the histrion branches by the skyline. 

The newer telephone besides has amended sound simplification successful debased light, without nighttime mode engaged. Dynamic scope is improved successful debased airy too, capturing much shadiness and item item than the older phone.

For nighttime mode shots specifically, some the phones usage akin vulnerability times ranging from 1 to 3 seconds depending connected the lighting conditions. The iPhone 14 Pro's representation beneath has much close achromatic equilibrium wide and somewhat amended item erstwhile you zoom in.

Action mode is the prima of the iPhone 14 Pro's video recording

Both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro sprout successful 4K astatine up to 60fps. The video representation looks akin erstwhile filming connected the main rear camera. But the iPhone 14 Pro unlocks further video tools similar Action mode. This is similar having a gimbal attached to your telephone to springiness creaseless results erstwhile moving, but you don't request immoderate further hardware -- it's each done in-phone. 

Action mode crops successful somewhat to your representation and drops the solution from 4K to 2.8K. But I deliberation the results are incredibly impressive, particularly erstwhile compared to the aforesaid video changeable connected the iPhone 13 Pro.

I chased aft my puppy, jogged on the formation and took a fast-moving tracking changeable successful beforehand of a waterfall successful the parkland with Action mode, and the results were remarkable. The iPhone 14 Pro's video representation looks similar I was filming with a stabilizer, smoothing retired adjacent abrupt jerky movements. The iPhone 13 Pro's video looks overmuch much shaky. You tin spot those enactment mode examples successful the video below, oregon astatine the apical of this page.

iPhone 14 Pro has large camera improvements, but the iPhone 13 Pro is inactive impressive

Apple's latest iPhone has immoderate important advantages implicit past year's iPhone 13 Pro erstwhile it comes to some photograph and video capture. Importantly, you don't request to see yourself a superior oregon nonrecreational lensman to instrumentality vantage of that 48-megapixel sensor. But the iPhone 13 Pro is inactive astatine the apical of its crippled successful astir different areas, and inactive offers 1 of the champion all-around telephone cameras you tin get.