iPhone 15 Pro cameras explained: What’s exciting about iPhone photography this year

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max come equipped with an advanced camera system that offers the equivalent of seven professional lenses, thanks to the power of computational photography, Apple says. The 48MP Main camera system, now supporting a new super-high-resolution 24MP default, allows for detailed image quality without overwhelming file sizes. This resolution is ideal for storing and sharing photos. Users can easily switch between three popular focal lengths—24mm, 28mm, and 35mm—and even select one as their new default setting. Additionally, the Main camera can capture 48MP ProRAW and 48MP HEIF images for even better quality.

The camera setup includes a 3x Telephoto camera on the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max boasts a 5x Telephoto camera, offering the longest optical zoom ever on an iPhone. This telephoto camera is perfect for close-ups, wildlife shots, and capturing distant action moments. It features a tetraprism design with combined optical image stabilization and an autofocus 3D sensor-shift module, providing improved stabilization.

The portrait photography on these models features sharper details, richer colors, and improved low-light performance. Importantly, portraits can be taken without switching to Portrait mode. When a person, dog, cat, or focal point is present in the frame, or when a user taps to focus, the iPhone captures depth information. This allows users to transform their photos into stunning portraits after taking the shot.

Check out some samples shared by Apple below:

Beyond shooting, the iPhone 15 Proand the iPhone 15 Pro Max offer other features that benefit improve the camera experience.

1. Pro workflows: These phones offer up to 20x faster transfer speeds with an optional USB 3 cable, which is a boon for photographers. Additionally, they support ProRes video recording directly to external storage, providing greater flexibility for on-set shooting.
2. Log Encoding and ACES: iPhone 15 Pro is the world’s first smartphone to support ACES, the Academy Colour Encoding System, a global standard for color workflows. Log encoding is also available as an option for more advanced video recording.
3. Spatial Video Capture: iPhone 15 Pro will soon offer spatial video recording capabilities, allowing users to capture 3D memories for immersive playback with Apple Vision Pro.

Performance

What good are cameras without a system that supports seamless execution. iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 ProMax are powered by the A17 Pro chip, the industry’s first 3-nanometer chip. This chip enhances overall performance, including CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine improvements. The GPU offers hardware-accelerated ray tracing, providing smoother graphics and more immersive AR applications and gaming experiences. More than photography, console-quality games like Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage can now be enjoyed on these devices.

Connectivity

Both new iPhone models feature USB-C connectors, making charging and data transfer convenient and universal. The phones also support Wi-Fi 6E and introduce Thread-enabled capabilities for future Home app integrations.

The iPhone 15 Pro series offers super-fast 5G connectivity and comes with iOS 17, bringing various new features and improvements, including the Journal app for gratitude journaling and enhanced text input with autocorrect and Dictation enhancements.

With these camera innovations and powerful performance enhancements, the iPhone 15 Pro series aims to provide users with a cutting-edge photography and smartphone experience.