My iPhone 14 Pro camera is ruined, and it's all Apple's fault - Digital Trends

1 year ago 55

Every year, Apple touts the iPhone arsenic having an unthinkable camera strategy — and, yes, the hardware is surely impressive. The iPhone 14 Pro has the latest advancements that Apple offers successful presumption of camera upgrades, including a immense leap to a 48MP main camera with pixel-binning exertion (four su-pixels to marque up 1 larger pixel), a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, faster nighttime mode, and more. Again, connected the hardware front, the iPhone 14 Pro camera looks impressive. And it is!

But what bully is large camera hardware erstwhile the bundle continues to ruin the images you take? Ever since the iPhone 13 lineup, it seems that immoderate images taken from an iPhone, unless it’s changeable successful ProRaw format, conscionable look atrocious compared to those taken connected older iPhones and the competing best Android phones. That’s due to the fact that Apple has turned the dial way up connected computational photography and post-processing each clip you seizure a photo. It’s ruining my images, and Apple needs to instrumentality a chill pill and instrumentality it down a notch.

These ‘smart’ features aren’t arsenic astute arsenic they claim

iPhone 14 Pro with Camera app connected Photographic Styles

To instrumentality photos, we request sensors that assistance seizure airy and item to make those images. However, since smartphones are overmuch much compact than a afloat DSLR, the sensors are beauteous constricted successful what they tin do. That’s wherefore Apple, arsenic good arsenic different smartphone manufacturers, whitethorn trust connected bundle to amended the representation prime of pictures you seizure connected a phone.

Apple introduced Smart HDR connected the iPhone successful 2018, and this bundle diagnostic is present successful its 4th iteration with the iPhone 14 lineup. With Smart HDR 4, the instrumentality volition drawback aggregate photos with antithetic settings and past harvester the “best” elements of each representation into a azygous photo. There’s a batch of computational photography going connected with this process, and though the volition is to marque the images look good, it really does the opposite.

You whitethorn person noticed this erstwhile you drawback a photograph connected your iPhone 14 (or iPhone 13) and instantly pat the thumbnail successful the country to presumption the images you conscionable took. The representation volition look similar what you captured for a speedy second, but past it looks overly sharpened — with colors appearing much artificial, possibly washed retired successful definite areas and overly saturated successful others. Even tegument code whitethorn look a small antithetic than what you spot successful existent life. While I loved nighttime mode erstwhile it archetypal debuted connected the iPhone 11 series, compared to the contention now, nighttime mode makes photos look excessively “bright” from overprocessing, and a batch of nighttime photos don’t adjacent look similar they’re taken astatine night.

And person you ever tried to instrumentality a selfie successful lowlight conditions? Sure, the iPhone has nighttime mode for the front-facing camera too, but I haven’t recovered it to beryllium of overmuch help. Lowlight selfies look horrendous nary substance what you bash due to the fact that iOS adds a batch of integer artifacts to the representation to effort and “save” it. But alternatively of redeeming the photo, it ends up looking similar a atrocious and messy watercolor painting. In fact, I effort to not instrumentality selfies connected my iPhone 14 Pro erstwhile I’m successful a dim situation due to the fact that they astir ever extremity up looking bad.

I’m not definite erstwhile photos taken with an iPhone began to look this way, but I decidedly consciousness similar it became much salient starting with the iPhone 13 series. I could beryllium wrong, but I don’t peculiarly retrieve my iPhone 12 Pro images looking this overexaggerated, and particularly not my iPhone 11 Pro photos. The iPhone utilized to instrumentality pictures that looked realistic and natural, but each this Smart HDR and computational photography postprocessing has gotten mode retired of hand, making images look worse than they should be.

Apple, fto america crook this worldly off

Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro held successful manus with a woody gross successful the background

A fewer years ago, it was imaginable to not usage Smart HDR astatine all. This was an optional setting, and 1 that you could toggle connected oregon disconnected arsenic you spot fit. This mounting was lone disposable connected the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone 11 series, iPhone SE 2, and iPhone 12 models. Ever since the iPhone 13 and later, the enactment to crook Smart HDR has been removed.

Taking distant this enactment was a shortsighted move, and I anticipation Apple brings it backmost astatine immoderate point. Despite my iPhone 14 Pro being my idiosyncratic and superior device, particularly for photography, sometimes I request to edit an representation earlier I see it suitable for sharing with others. I get what Apple is trying to bash with Smart HDR, but the resulting representation usually conscionable looks mode excessively artificial compared to what you spot successful reality.

For example, erstwhile I instrumentality pictures extracurricular successful sunny conditions, the photograph whitethorn person an overly saturated bluish sky, making it look fake. I besides deliberation that, sometimes, the colour altering makes my tegument code look a tad disconnected — thing that YouTuber Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) adjacent talks astir successful a caller video.

Android contention does it better

Google Pixel 7, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 14 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, OnePlus 10 Pro, and Galaxy Z Fold 4 each lying connected a table.

Again, Apple has enactment immoderate large camera hardware successful the iPhone 14 Pro lineup, but it’s tainted by the overprocessing of the software. As I’ve picked up a fewer antithetic Android devices successful my clip present astatine Digital Trends, I’ve travel to bask however immoderate competing Android phones grip photography implicit the iPhone.

For example, the Google Pixel 7 takes large photos with the main camera with nary other effort required. Just constituent and shoot, and the results are close to what your eyes spot — if not better. Google inactive uses a batch of its ain representation processing, but it doesn’t marque photos look unnatural the mode Apple does. The lone occupation with it, from what I’ve noticed, is selfies. It doesn’t rather get the tegument code accurately, but otherwise, the main camera is great. Colors are balanced, not washed out, and the bundle doesn’t effort excessively hard to marque it “look good,” due to the fact that it already is. And with amusive tools similar Magic Eraser, I similar to usage my Google Pixel 7 for editing shots.

I besides tested retired the older Samsung Galaxy S21 for a fewer of these photograph comparisons, and portion I don’t deliberation it handles tegument code and colour that well, it seems to bash good for lowlight selfies, which I’m amazed by. It besides handled nighttime mode pictures rather well, making them look earthy and realistic alternatively of blown retired with the colors disconnected similar the iPhone 14 Pro.

So portion Apple tin accidental it has the “best” camera hardware, iOS and the overreliance connected computational photography is ruining however images look. Sure, immoderate radical whitethorn similar this aesthetic, but I personally can’t basal however unnatural a batch of my pictures extremity up looking. Apple needs to code down the Smart HDR stuff, oregon astatine slightest bring backmost the enactment to crook it disconnected if we please. Because, close now, things aren’t looking great.