{Disarmed} The cameras of the iPhone 13, mini, Pro and Pro Max, explained: its photographic hardware has improved, but it is the software that makes the difference
The new iPhones are here. Faithful to their appointment of all the years. And they have come up with exciting news that covers, as expected, both hardware and software . They incorporate new OLED screens, more powerful and efficient processors, and offer us greater autonomy than their predecessors, according to Apple.
However, in this article what interests us most are its cameras, and in this area the news is especially juicy . The iPhone 13 and 13 mini offer us two rear cameras in a wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle configuration, while theiPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max opt for a system of three rear cameras: wide-angle, ultra-wide and telephoto.
So far there is nothing surprising, so to discover what allows them to go further than their predecessors it is necessary that we investigate the innovations that Apple has introduced in both its hardware and its software. And yes, in the absence of a thorough analysis, on paper they look good. Really good.
iPhone 13, mini, Pro and Pro Max: technical specifications
iphone 13 mini | iPhone 13 | iphone 13 pro | iphone 13 pro max | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
screen | 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (2340 x 1080 dots), 2,000,000: 1 native contrast ratio, HDR, and 800 nits brightness delivery (1200 nits peak brightness) | 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (2532 x 1170 dots), 2,000,000: 1 native contrast ratio, HDR, and 800 nits brightness delivery (1,200 nits peak brightness) | 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (2532 x 1170 dots), 120 Hz adaptive refresh, 2,000,000: 1 native contrast ratio, HDR, and 1000 nits brightness delivery (1200 nits peak brightness) | 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED (2778 x 1284 dots), 120 Hz adaptive refresh, 2,000,000: 1 native contrast ratio, HDR, and 1000 nits brightness delivery (1200 nits peak brightness) |
processor | A15 Bionic 6-core CPU (2 high-performance and 4 high-efficiency) 4-core GPU | A15 Bionic 6-core CPU (2 high-performance and 4 high-efficiency) 4-core GPU | A15 Bionic 6-core CPU (2 high-performance and 4 high-efficiency) 5-core GPU | A15 Bionic 6-core CPU (2 high-performance and 4 high-efficiency) 5-core GPU |
secondary storage | 128, 256 and 512 GB | 128, 256 and 512 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB and 1 TB | 128, 256, 512 GB and 1 TB |
frontal camera | 12 megapixel sensor, optics with aperture value f / 2.2, night mode, Deep Fusion and HDR Video recording up to 4K at 60 FPS with Dolby Vision | 12 megapixel sensor, optics with aperture value f / 2.2, night mode, Deep Fusion and HDR Video recording up to 4K at 60 FPS with Dolby Vision | 12 megapixel sensor, lens with aperture value f / 2.2, night mode, Deep Fusion, ProRAW and HDR format Video recording up to 4K at 60 FPS with Dolby Vision | 12 megapixel sensor, lens with aperture value f / 2.2, night mode, Deep Fusion, ProRAW and HDR format Video recording up to 4K at 60 FPS with Dolby Vision |
rear cameras | Wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor and optics with aperture value f / 1.6 Ultra wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor, optics with aperture value f / 2.4 and 120º field of view Night mode, Deep Fusion, HDR and stabilization on the sensor | Wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor and optics with aperture value f / 1.6 Ultra wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor, optics with aperture value f / 2.4 and 120º field of view Night mode, Deep Fusion, HDR and stabilization on the sensor | Telephoto lens: 12 megapixel sensor, lens with aperture value f / 2.8 and 3x optical zoom Wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor and optics with aperture value f / 1.5 Ultra wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor, optics with aperture value f / 1.8 and 120º field of view Optical stabilization in telephoto and wide angle Night mode, Deep Fusion, HDR and Apple ProRAW | Telephoto lens: 12 megapixel sensor, lens with aperture value f / 2.8 and 3x optical zoom Wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor and optics with aperture value f / 1.5 Ultra wide angle: 12 megapixel sensor, optics with aperture value f / 1.8 and 120º field of view Optical stabilization in telephoto and wide angle Night mode, Deep Fusion, HDR and Apple ProRAW |
OS | iOS 15 | iOS 15 | iOS 15 | iOS 15 |
battery | Up to 17 hours of video playback | Up to 19 hours of video playback | Up to 22 hours of video playback | Up to 28 hours of video playback |
geopositioning | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou |
connectivity | Lightning | Lightning | Lightning | Lightning |
wireless connectivity | 5G LTE Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 NFC | 5G LTE Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 NFC | 5G LTE Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 NFC | 5G LTE Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 NFC |
sensors | Face ID, barometer, three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor | Face ID, barometer, three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor | Face ID, LiDAR scanner, barometer, three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor | Face ID, LiDAR scanner, barometer, three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor |
endurance | IP68 | IP68 | IP68 | IP68 |
colors | Red, white, black, blue and pink | Red, white, black, blue and pink | Graphite, gold, silver and alpine blue | Graphite, gold, silver and alpine blue |
dimensions | 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.65 mm | 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.65 mm | 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.65 mm | 160.8 x 78.1 x 7.65 mm |
weight | 141 g | 174 g | 203 g | 238 g |
price | From 809 euros | From 909 euros | From 1159 euros | From 1259 euros |
The photographic hardware of the iPhone 13, exposed
All four smartphones in this family feature the same front camera , which Apple calls TrueDepth, so it's worth a start by taking a look. This camera bets on a 12 megapixel sensor that works in tandem with an lens with an aperture value of f / 2.2.
It allows us to use all the software innovations that we are going to see in the following sections of this article, but the front camera of the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max has something that this unit does not offer us in the iPhone 13 and 13 mini: the mode ProRAW and ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 FPS.
In xiaomist.com The semiconductor crisis is the consequence of a perfect storm: why it is not so easy to solve it simply by making more chipsOn the other hand, the camera module housed in the back of the iPhone 13 and 13 mini is identical. It incorporates a wide-angle camera with a 12-megapixel sensor and a seven-element optics with aperture value f / 1.6, and also an ultra-wide-angle unit equipped with a 12-megapixel pickup that works in tandem with a five-element optics and aperture value f / 2.4. The field of view of this last camera is 120º.
Here's the good news: in this generation, all iPhone 13s incorporate optical stabilization by sensor displacement in the wide-angle camera.Both units are protected by a sapphire crystal, and the wide-angle camera has inherited the optical image stabilization by sensor shift that in the previous generation we could only find in the Pro Max version . This stabilization technology has a profound impact both when taking pictures and recording video, so it is good news that this time they have the four iPhone 13s that Apple has just introduced.
I suggest that we now take a look at the camera module of the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. The wide-angle unit incorporates a 12-megapixel sensor and a seven-element lens with aperture value f / 1.5 . The ultra-wide-angle camera uses a 12-megapixel sensor and a six-element lens with an aperture value of f / 1.8 (its field of view is 120º). And finally, the telephoto lens also has a 12-megapixel sensor, but its optics incorporate six elements and it has an aperture value of f / 2.8.
The optics of the wide-angle and ultra-wide cameras are brighter than those of the previous generationAn interesting point that we should not overlook: the lenses of the wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle cameras are brighter than those of the previous generation. The wide angle has gone from an lens with aperture f / 1.6 to f / 1.5, and the ultra wide angle jumps from f / 2.4 to f / 1.8. The telephoto lens, however, loses a bit of luminosity when going from f / 2.0 in the iPhone 12 Pro and f / 2.2 in the Pro Max to f / 2.8 in the new iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. Yes, its 3x optical zoom is greater than its predecessors.
Another important feature of the ultra wide angle camera is its ability to allow us to take snapshots in macro mode. According to Apple, it manages to focus accurately at a minimum distance of 2 cm , which is not bad at all. To make it possible, they acknowledge having been forced to redesign both the optics of this camera and the autofocus system. Of course, when we can thoroughly analyze these new mobile phones we will put the performance of this camera to the test.
Lighting Effects and Smart HDR, the New Benchmark in Computational Photography
As we have just seen, Apple has made interesting improvements to the hardware of the cameras of the new iPhone 13, but the innovations it has implemented in its software are even more juicy .
As expected, computational photography acquires the maximum relevance in this context because it has two primary responsibilities: correcting defects introduced by hardware (especially chromatic and geometric aberrations derived from optics), and also maximizing the creative possibilities that these cameras put in our hands.
In xiaomist.com It sets the rules on the internet, and yet for many people it is a complete stranger: what is the IETF and why is it so influentialThe new lighting effects of the iPhone 13 fit precisely in this last responsibility. They have been designed so that we can use them when taking portraits, and they propose us to act on the global lighting of the scene to give each portrait the aesthetic style we prefer.
We have six options : daylight, studio light, contour light, stage light, mono stage light, and mono high-key light. As you can see, it sounds good, so this will be one of the features that we will thoroughly test as soon as one of the new iPhone 13 falls into our hands.
The Smart HDR 4 that Apple has implemented in the iPhone 13 is even more impressive than the feature in which we just investigated. And the fact is that the algorithm that applies it to the scene is capable of identifying up to four people in the shot in order to independently apply a different contrast, lighting and tone adjustment to each of them.
This is especially useful if we are photographing several people with different skin tones , as we can see in the photograph that we published above this paragraph. For this feature to work properly it is necessary for the algorithm to accurately identify the area of the image on which each adjustment should be applied, so it will be interesting to see if it performs as well as Apple has promised us.
In xiaomist.com Einstein was good at mathematics and was always an outstanding student: why the story that defends otherwise is a mythThe other great novelty of the iPhone 13: the photographic styles
The latest feature of the new Apple smartphones that we propose to investigate is even more ambitious than the two that we have just reviewed. And it is that what it intends to look really good: it proposes us to automatically apply the tone and color temperature settings that we prefer to our photographs. This is already done by the filters, but there is a big difference between the photographic styles that those of Cupertino are proposing to us and the filters with which we are all familiar.
The algorithm that applies the filters identifies the sky and people's skin to prevent their color from being altered
Unlike filters, the algorithm that applies the photographic styles is capable of identifying, according to Apple, the sky and the skin of the people we are photographing to apply a mask to these objects and preserve them, thus avoiding that the photographic style alter its color . As is logical, again this software must be able to accurately identify these elements of the photograph in order to discriminate them.
The iPhone 13 offers us four different photographic styles that we can modify to our liking: bright, intense contrast, warm and cold. It will be interesting to see how this algorithm works when the ambient light is not as abundant as that which permeates all the photographs that Apple has used to explain this technology to us.
More information | Manzana
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The news The cameras of the iPhone 13, mini, Pro and Pro Max, explained: their photographic hardware has improved, but it is the software that makes the difference was originally published in xiaomist.com by Juan Carlos López .
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