Apple finally adds a denser sensor to the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. This is the first time that the iPhone’s camera resolution has increased from 8MP up to 12MP with iPhone 6s.
That’s a big leap. The sensor’s physical size is approximately 60 percent greater than the standard 12MP sensor. This means it scatters the light that falls on it less evenly than the earlier sensor. Each element corresponds to a pixel in a sensor. Apple’s 48MP sensor has four times as many elements as the 12MP one–6048 by 8064 pixels compared to 3024 by 4032. The result is that each element on the new sensor captures slightly less light even though it’s larger than the one before. It’s a combination designed to improve detail but would normally also increase image noise in dimmer light.
Apple wanted to avoid this with normal shooting. By default, the 48MP sensor produces a 12MP image. Third-party apps can also do this. This image, like all photos taken on an iPhone and iPad, invisibly blends multiple shots and runs through a pipeline. The pipeline was upgraded across the iPhone 14 series, to what Apple calls “the Photonic Engine”, replacing the Neural Engine. The Photonic Engine engages earlier in the processing chain than the previous algorithm, and Apple says this will help it better apply its machine-learning-based processing on low-light images.
Shooting at 48MP
These 12MP images look fine in theory. In fact, they worked well in our tests! However, you may want to tap into the 48MP sensor you have. You can enable raw mode in the Camera app to grab a less processed, super-high resolution image that’s far beyond previous iPhone capabilities. Because it doesn’t benefit as deeply from Apple’s computational photography technology, the 48MP has tradeoffs beyond just the storage and computational power necessary to grab and manipulate these images.
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple has increased the density of the camera’s sensing elements. Each of the sensing elements has a red, green or blue filter that captures the intensity of each component of light. Color isn’t grabbed directly, but interpolated across adjacent pixels in the image that comes off any digital camera, including an iPhone’s. Two green elements are needed for each color of red or blue in a sensor. Green-filtered light captures a lot more luminance or tones than red or blue.
Apple’s supersized quad elements in the 48 MP sensor are collections of little matrices of two by two elements filtering the same color. As a result, the 48MP raw image captures more detail overall but effectively less differentiation across colors in any resulting 4 by 4 pixel area—about the same as a 12MP sensor does in a 2 by 2 pixel area. This could lead to a more muted color than one that preserves the color pattern of individual elements.
To capture in raw mode, enable the feature in Settings > Camera > FormatsBy turning on Apple ProRAW (48MP) and selecting ProRAW Resolution, Tap the Camera icon. RawClick the button in the upper right corner to temporarily remove the word label from your image and let you take raw images. You can make your choice to use raw or not use raw permanent via Settings > Camera > Save SettingsEnable Apple ProRAW The Camera app will automatically remember which raw choices you made in the past.
iPhone 14 Pro vs. Fujifilm XE4 mirrorless
To test out Apple’s 48MP raw shots, I took a series of photographs in different settings using an iPhone 14 Pro and a Fujifilm X-E4Mirrorless camera. Fujifilm’s camera features a 26.1MP sensor that can capture a maximum 6240 x 4160 image. I used a 27mm f/2.8 lens, which has a 40mm equivalent to bring it in line with Apple’s conversion below–somewhere between Apple’s main and telephoto lenses. Adobe Lightroom was used for adjustment of exposure and balance.
The X-E4 is $1,050 and includes the 27mm lens (XF27mmF2.8R WR), while the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max comes with three cameras at $999 and $1.099, respectively.
- Main: Apple now calls its primary camera the Main lens, reducing confusion. It’s a 24mm equivalent f/1.78 lens.
- Ultra Wide: 13mm equivalent, f/2.2.
- Telephoto: 77mm equivalent, f/2.8
Apple uses the “35mm equivalent” language for its lenses, a way to compare the scope of a scene capture onto a sensor that can be measured against traditional 35mm film photography. This makes it possible to compare other types of cameras apples-to-apples. Apple lists 0.5x to 1x, 2x and 3x factors on Pro models. iOS simulates a 48mm equivalent lens with two lenses by subsampling it. This effectively creates 12MP images from the center of the 48MP sensor. Some of these 12MP 2x shots were also tested by me.
Comparing photos
Due to the elements color pattern, a 12MP shot at 100 percent should look sharper than one taken using a native 12MP photo that frames the same area. It will also appear sharper than a 12MP shot from a larger DSLR or mirrorless sensor covering the same area at the exact distance. I compared the X-14 Pro to an iPhone 14 Pro by shooting the same scenes at 1x, 2x, and 3x respectively.
The iPhone 14 Pro holds up remarkably well against the Fujifilm X-E4, particularly in low-light conditions: there’s less noise and more detail preserved. The iPhone 14 Pro’s raw 48MP and 12MP 2x Zoom offers a comparable or even better result than the Fujifilm X-E4 in almost all cases.
Fujifilm is a great choice because it offers a wide variety of options for shutter speed, physical and film-speed simulations. They also have interchangeable lenses that can be used for zooming and superzoom to allow for long-range telephoto shots. For high-dynamic range photos and other photos, you can tune, time and control every X-E4 shot. You can also set up bracketing (multiple exposures that are automatically taken in iOS and iPadOS).
The iPhone 14 Pro, a comparable mirrorless camera to the iPhone 14 Pro, offers close-up photography with three lenses for about the same price. You may choose to ditch a mirrorless camera in favor of an iPhone 14 Pro to capture similar shots. It also has the added benefit of a multi-purpose device, with a long battery life, cellular photo and upload, and can take photos for up to a day.
