Apple’s New iPhone 14 and 14 Plus Cameras Boast Stunning Improvements
News | By Stephan Jukic | September 8, 2022
Just a couple of days ago we reported on the speculation around the upcoming Apple event on September 7th in which the iPhone 14 launch would be revealed in full detail. Today this event happened and the latest in Apple’s iconic line of phones has matched or exceeded most expectations.
The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, the iPhone 14 Pro and the most premium variant of the bunch, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, were all shown to the public in full detail after nearly a year of hype and rumor. These newest Apple phones are all loaded with major improvements and new technologies that enhance their quality nearly across the board.
Most importantly for us, however, their camera specs have seen some of the most dramatic changes in capability. We’re going to cover those here for the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus, followed by a second post on the two premium models, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
A closer look at the new iPhone 14 and 14 Plus Cameras
Today’s announcement included the unveiling of the two new iPhone 14 models, the iPhone 14 and its “Plus” variant. The first offers a 6.1-inch display while the second is slightly larger at 6.7 inches. Both phones offer a new 12 MP main camera with a larger sensor and, crucially, larger pixels inside that sensor for better light and detail absorption.
Both phones also feature a new front TruDepth camera and a new Ultra-Wide camera feature with the Main camera for greater scene capture and an overall superior photographic shooting capacity. What’s more, both phones come with what Apple calls Photonic Engine technology, which according to the company delivers a major leap forward in how-light cell phone camera performance.
Starting with Photonic Engine, the new technology integrates hardware and software in these phones to enhance mid and low-light shooting for images captured on all of these phones’ cameras. In the case of Ultra Wide camera and TruDepth front camera, the improvement is claimed to be 2x for sharpness and detail in low lighting. For the Main camera’s principal shooting mode, on the other hand, the improvement notches up to 2.5x over what the predecessor iPhone 13 could handle.
According to Apple, Photonic Engine creates these improvements in quality by using its Deep Fusion processing system earlier in image capture for the sake of preserving subtle texture detail and deep color and for delivering more overall information in a photo.
As for the dual-lens Main camera, it comes packed with larger individual 1.9 µm pixels and a larger f/1.5 aperture for deeply enhanced lighting, detail and motion capture capabilities in any functional lighting scenario. What’s more, the new Main camera comes with autofocus technology for the first time in an iPhone, allowing for better motion capture in low or normal light and for better shooting at a distance.
The Ultra Wide camera mode simply allows for wider shot panoramas while including the benefits of the Photonic Engine in these compositions. Both the Main camera and the TrueDepth front, or “Selfie” camera feature a 12Mp resolution.
Apple has also improved video in both of these iPhone variants by adding a new Action mode for a smoother, less shake-distorted video that can maintain clarity even while the footage is being captured in the middle of fast action movement by the phone’s user or subjects.
Both of these iPhone models boast improvements to their True Tone flash technology, which offers more consistent lighting and superior uniformity. There’s also a Cinematic mode for shooting video in resolutions of up to 4K at 30 and 24fps with full Dolby Vision HDR.
Other iPhone Enhancements
The display technology on both phones is also worth mentioning here for its impressive specs. These models feature Super Retina XDR screens that use OLED technology to create a whopping 1200 nits of brightness and a supposed 2,000,000: 1 contrast ratio. Obviously, HDR is included in these screens too.
Perhaps the main differences between the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus are the larger display on the latter phone model and an improved battery life that’s possibly the best available in any iPhone on the market so far. This includes the premium iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models.
Both the iPhone 14 and the 14 Plus are available for pre-order as of September 9th. They’ll then become available on Friday, September 16th for the iPhone 14 and October 7th for the 14 Plus.
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Stephan Jukic is a technology and photography journalist and experimental photographer who spends his time living in both Canada and Mexico. He loves cross-cultural street photo exploration and creating fine art photo compositions.
