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iPhone 14 Pro: The 7-year wait for a 72MP camera system - 8K video, Pixel-binning, Super Res Zoom

By Martin Filipov

Updated: Feb 14, 2022, 2:15 PM

28comments

This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

iPhone 14 Pro: The 7-year wait for a 72MP camera system - 8K video, Pixel-binning, Super Res Zoom

The iPhone 14 series of phones are about seven months away now. While the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max are expected to get a spec bump with the new A16 Bionic processor and perhaps some new-old camera hardware, directly borrowed from the iPhone 13 Pro, the story with Apple’s Pro models for 2022 promises to be quite different.

iPhone 14 camera: everything we know

For starters, the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are rumored to get a brand new design reminiscent of the iPhone 4, including a titanium frame, circular volume buttons, and elongated speaker grills. Of course, the most notable change will be on the front. The iPhone 14 Pro is said to get a dual punch-hole screen, which will finally put an end to the notch era, introduced with the iPhone X almost five years ago.

Finally, the last notable upgrade is said to be found on the back of the iPhone 14 Pro - no camera bump, as well as a brand new 48MP primary sensor, which is expected to be (again) accompanied by two 12MP shooters - zoom and ultra-wide, for a total of 72-megapixel goodness. This will be the first primary camera megapixel upgrade for Apple’s flagship since the iPhone 6S.

So, let’s take a look at why it’s taken Apple forever to abandon the 12MP sensor; what the new 48MP camera might bring to the table, and finally what it can tell us about Apple’s future plans for the iPhone's camera.

Why did it take Apple seven years to move away from 12MP sensors?

Although many die-hard Android fans will tell you, “it’s because Apple is slow at innovation”, this isn’t the whole story. Sure, Tim Cook & Co take their time with certain upgrades, but when Apple does decide to change something, it’s usually when:

The change is really necessary and comes with a purpose
The tech and implementation are ready/good enough

The truth is that smartphones don’t need to be able to take 48MP photos. With phones and megapixel counts, there’s a fine line between pushing the boundaries and reaching a point of diminishing returns. For example, native 48-50-100MP images will only take up more storage space without bringing many benefits - at least due to the resolution alone, and when viewed on a 6-inch phone screen, they don’t appear any different than a lower res image.

Then again, the 8MP cameras, which used to be super popular back in the day, weren’t sufficient enough for exciting (at the time) features like 4K video. Therefore, Apple, as well as virtually all other manufacturers, found the 12MP sensor to hit just the right balance for what a smartphone camera needed to do.

You need at least an 8.3MP camera to shoot 4K UHD videos and at least an 8.8MP camera to shoot 4K DCI (Cinema 4K).

Why is Apple finally switching to a 48MP camera on the iPhone 14 Pro?

Well, as it always goes, nothing is forever, and after Nokia’s successful spell with high-res cameras in the days of Symbian and Windows phones, Huawei was ready to disrupt the market in 2018 by introducing the P20 Pro, which came with a 40MP primary shooter, alongside a 20MP monochrome camera. Since then Xiaomi, Samsung, OnePlus, and even Google have joined the high-res club with 48MP, 50MP, and even 108MP sensors.

Sure, when the iPhone 14 Pro is out in September 2022, it’ll have taken Apple about four years to give iPhone users what Android had about four years ago, but let’s now see what Cupertino’s reasons to finally switch to a high-res 48MP sensor are.

8K video recording

As of now, 8K video is more of a buzzword rather than a useful feature. Why? Well, for starters, Android’s implementation of 8K video has been rather disappointing. We’ve seen everything, from upscaled 6K videos which look nothing like 8K to native 8K video with poor dynamic range, low framerate, mediocre stabilization, and significant frame cropping (where the video looks zoomed in).

Apart from that, on the consumer side of things, very few people have actually needed or could take advantage of 8K video, which is best enjoyed on a big TV that supports 8K resolution - those were and frankly, still are rather pricey. Furthermore, many professionals don’t even record in 8K, to begin with. For example, TV production is almost never carried out in 8K, which defeats the entire purpose of owning an 8K TV in the first place. Same for YouTube content.

You need at least a 33.2MP camera to shoot 8K videos.

So, when 8K TVs are still expensive, and even pros don’t record in 8K, why is Apple on board for it? Future-proofing. Although 8K isn’t exactly necessary now, this might change in the next few years.

However, the truth is that Apple has another very important reason to switch to a 48MP, 8K camera, and that’s the company’s upcoming AR/VR headset. In AR/VR, which essentially has two small displays through which you need to see a whole world, resolution is much more important than it is on your tiny phone screen - the higher, the better.

Apple’s powerful processors are far superior to what Qualcomm or Samsung’s Exynos chips can do, and this includes rendering video, so I expect 8K from the iPhone 14 Pro to look far superior to what Samsung or Xiaomi have been able to offer up until now. I exclude the Galaxy S22 Ultra, since we haven't tested this one properly just yet.

Pixel-binned photos with more detail

The iPhone 14 Pro likely won’t take 48MP photos by default. That's right. Instead, Apple will probably use a trick called “pixel-binning,” where multiple pixels are combined into one bigger pixel. Pixels are generally super small, so combining four into one allows for more light intake, and light is crucial for small camera sensors.

So, essentially, the iPhone 14 Pro will likely still take 12MP shots by default, although it’s safe to assume Apple will let you shoot in 48MP if you want to. The thing is that these photos usually come with little detail gains and often with significant dynamic range loss, which is why Android manufacturers that have been utilizing pixel-binning, avoid using them by default.

SuperRes Zoom alternative via sensor cropping

Pixel 6 (left) vs iPhone 13 (right). Neither of them has a dedicated zoom camera.

The last one is intriguing.

To understand sensor-cropping, we need to take a look at Google’s Pixel, which has been utilizing what the company calls Super Res Zoom for a while now. This clever software algorithm uses multi-frame capture techniques to extract extra detail from an image. Super Res Zoom on Pixels without a dedicated zoom camera is still completely digital, but without the expected loss in quality.

Take a look at the samples above, shot by Grant Likes Tech. Although the Pixel 6 doesn’t have a separate camera for optical zoom, just like the iPhone 13, Google’s phone destroys Apple’s flagship when it comes to magnification. That’s all thanks to Super Res Zoom.

For the record, Huawei’s P50 Pro flagship takes this game to a new level. It uses a 64MP zoom camera that’s fixed at 3.5x optical zoom. However, the sensor-cropping from the full 64 megapixels, merged with the 16MP shots that the phone gives you by default, often manages to achieve incredible detail even at 10x.

Take a look at our Huawei P50 Pro review, if you want to see this incredible camera system in action.

What can the iPhone 14 Pro's 48MP camera tell us about Apple’s future plans?

Apple AR/VR headset

As I touched upon in the 8K video section, it’s almost certain that the 8K videos recorded on the iPhone 14 Pro will be used for Apple’s AR/VR headset. However, the other key hint that tells us 8K is related to Apple's AR/VR plans is timing.

If everything goes to plan, iPhone 14 series will be released in September 2022, while the company's first-ever AR/VR headset is said to debut as early as 2023. According to rumors, this one was actually supposed to arrive in late 2022, which would have made perfect sense, but apparently, Cupertino is facing some production challenges.

A periscope zoom camera on iPhone 15 Pro?

Of course, when one of the iPhone’s cameras is rumored to get a big upgrade, it only makes sense to ask, “what about the other two?!”. According to usually reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s planning to bring a periscope zoom camera to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max - so in 2023.

This comes as no surprise, as the iPhone 13 Pro already received an upgrade from a 2x zoom lens to a 3x one, so it’s very likely that the iPhone 14 Pro will stick to the same zoom lens. That being said, I don’t expect Apple to add a fourth camera to the iPhone 15 Pro series.

What’s more likely to happen is that the company will settle for a 3.5-4x optical zoom lens with a short focusing distance, which will still be used for Portrait Mode photography - this is important to Apple, as it’s become a staple of the iPhone camera.

The 3.5x zoom lens from the Huawei P50 Pro and the 4x camera from Google’s Pixel 6 Pro prove that if optimized and used correctly, such a camera can be great for portraits, as well as for long-range zoom - at least given that Apple manages to pull off the same Super Res Zoom magic that Google and Huawei are so good at.

What about the ultra-wide-angle camera on iPhone 14 Pro?

The ultra-wide-angle shooter on most current phones is often by far the weakest link in their entire camera system. Unfortunately, the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro aren’t an exception. I’m personally not a big fan of ultra-wide-angle cameras, to begin with, but I do think that if companies use them, they should do it right and invest more time and resources to make them good in all lighting conditions.

For example, the ultra-wide-angle cameras on Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro and my Pixel 6 Pro quickly start to fall apart when faced with challenging lighting conditions. I hope Apple will address this with the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro, but I won’t be surprised if this upgrade is left for the next big release, just like the new zoom camera.

I mean... The iPhone 14 Pro can’t fix everything, right? What is Apple going to do with the iPhone 15 Pro - make it fly?

iPhone 14 Pro punch-hole selfie camera with Face ID

And finally, let's pay some attention to the selfie shooter on the new iPhone 14 Pro. Apple’s been using and abusing the same 12MP camera sensor on three consecutive iPhones now, and this one simply must go. When it first debuted on the iPhone 11 series, the 12MP True Depth camera produced great photos and the best videos on any phone. But that was 2019.

Now, phones like the Pixel 6 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra take extremely competitive photos and videos that often rival and surpass the iPhone 13 Pro. For example, HDR in video was an area completely dominated by Apple’s flagship. That’s no longer the case, as the Pixel 6 Pro is able to balance highlights and shadows just as well, if not better.

It’s interesting to see Apple’s plan for the selfie camera, because this one will now need to be housed in a much smaller cutout, instead of the big notch we currently have. So, is there a chance it'll actually get... worse?

I hope not.

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Martin, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, brings a unique blend of humor and insight to his work. His fascination with smartphones began with a Galaxy Young and evolved through a series of trades and upgrades, making him a self-proclaimed smartphone nerd. Martin's content often combines current analysis of market trends with historical references and future predictions. Whether it's a deep dive into technical issues or a first-person commentary on industry events, Martin's articles are designed to inform and engage. His critical perspective is driven by genuine curiosity and a desire to keep readers informed, not by any corporate sponsorship.