The iPhones cameras get most of their superpowers from custom silicon running powerful software.
The iPhone 13 is no exception, using raw computing power to create the fantastic Cinematic mode.
But it also introduces hardware changes that improve all cameras, especially in the iPhone 13 Pro.
Apple
But there are all kinds of reasons to upgrade or hold off.
“[But] the telephoto is a main reason why Im upgrading.”
Pro vs.
Frederick Medina / Unsplash
Non Pro
The most significant differences between the iPhones 13 and 13 Pro are physical.
The 13 has a 2x optical zoom range, for example, whereas the Pro gets 6x.
The Pro also has a LiDAR scanner for better movies, low-light autofocus, and portrait mode photos.
Automatic focus and blur in cinematic mode on iPhone 13.Apple
It also has superior lenses, which enable macro mode.
This lets you focus as close as two centimeters or less than an inch.
The superior cameras in the Pro also take better night shots and allow night mode on the telephoto lens.
The only software feature that the regular 13 wont get is ProRes video support.
Cinematic Mode
The big news in the iPhone 13 is Cinematic mode.
But with video, things get even fancier.
Cinematic mode emulates the focus-pulling technique seen in countless Hollywood movies.
This is where a camera operator switches focus from something near to something far, or vice versa.
Done well, it moves your eye around the frame without jarring viewer.
Apples take is done computationally.
It generates a depth map of every single frame, at 30 frames-per-second.
This is a 3D map of the scene, so the iPhone knows how far away everything is.
This is impressive on several levels.
First, theres the sheer power required to compute a depth map for every single frame.
And the actual focus-pulling action is also pretty great, mimicking the pro pulling from the movies.
Also impressive is the AI that determines who or what is the current subject.
Well see how good this is in practice.
One of the cues that trigger a focus shift is when the currently in-focus person looks towards another person.
Its a pretty neat time to be an iPhone movie maker.
