iPhone 14 Cameras: 48MP Sets the Pro Apart

It’s September, which means it’s time for Apple to update the iPhone. This year brings the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, handsets that look quite a bit like last year’s 13 series on the outside, though there are some big changes inside, especially with the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. If you’re interested in learning about the phones in general, we’ve got you covered; here we’ll take a close look at the cameras.

iPhone 14 and 14 Plus: More Than Enough Camera for Most

Apple splits its iPhone line into two forks, with the more affordable iPhone 14 and 14 Plus getting the (slightly) short end of the stick when it comes to camera features. That’s fine, as they’re quite capable for imaging and video.

Like the iPhone 13, the “regular” iPhone 14 models sport dual cameras, one with an ultra-wide view and another with the classic wide angle (26mm) that’s become the de facto standard view for smartphones. The front-facing selfie camera has an f/2.2 lens for FaceTime chats and selfies.

iPhone 14 dual camera module
(Credit: Tim Gideon)

All of the lenses are backed by 12MP sensors, the same as with the iPhone 13 series. Sensor-shift stabilization is new, though, and should result in steadier handheld video, as well as clearer results when using the low light Night mode. The main rear camera also sports a slightly brighter f/1.5 aperture, but the difference in its light-gathering capabilities versus the iPhone 13’s f/1.6 lens is negligible.

Computational photo modes continue. The aforementioned Night mode is there for taking pictures on dimly lit street corners. You also get a portrait mode for blurred-background snapshots with adjustable bokeh and lighting effects.

For video, the basic iPhone 14 models support 4K60 recording in SDR or Dolby Vision HDR, the same as last time. Cinematic mode gets an upgrade, though. The feature made its debut last year and brings the bokeh effect to video, but was limited to 1080p24 with the 13 series. With the iPhone 14 it gets an upgrade to 4K, and you can pick between the classic 24fps look or more video-like 30fps, both with Dolby Vision color.

Hands On With the Apple iPhone 14 Lineup

Action mode is brand new this year. The feature is a shot across the bow at action cams, and promises to capture steadier video in normally shaky situations. It crops in the view of the lens to boost it with digital stabilization, so resolution is limited to 2.8K60. We’ve seen standalone cameras use similar techniques to stabilize handheld video—Sony’s ZV-E10 vlogging camera uses the technique and crops footage to do so. It’s an intriguing feature, and perhaps Apple hopes to take a bite out of GoPro’s market here, but thrill seekers are still better off with a ruggedized Hero10 Black and its superb stabilization and 5.3K60 video spec to document their adventures.

iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max: Apple Embraces Quad Bayer

There’s a lot more differentiation this year between the regular iPhone 14 and the 14 Pro’s cameras than in years past. First, the obvious—the 14 Pro and Pro Max include a triple rear camera. The ultra-wide lens gets a macro mode, not included in basic handsets. The main lens is also supplemented with a 3x telephoto, one that captures the same angle of view as a 77mm lens for full-frame systems. (Yes, 77mm lenses exist.)

iPhone 14 Pro triple camera module
(Credit: Tim Gideon)

The 14 Pro’s wide, telephoto, and selfie lenses are all 12MP, while the handset’s main rear camera is backed by a 48MP Quad Bayer sensor. This type of sensor takes the 48MP of data and downsamples it to 12MP. (You can take advantage of all of the pixels in ProRaw mode.)

The lens itself is a 26mm, and while its f/1.78 aperture means the lens doesn’t gather as much light as the regular iPhone 14, we expect that Apple opted for the design to better take advantage of the pixel-rich sensor. We’ve seen other devices with Quad Bayer chips that only show marginally better detail, so the quality of optics and image processing matter.

We’ll have to wait to test the iPhone 14 to see if the 48MP mode is a real boon, or a modest upgrade in picture quality as is the case with the DJI Mavic Air 2 drone and its Quad Bayer camera. Notably, Google forged a similar path jumping from the 12MP camera of the Pixel 5 to a 50MP camera with the Pixel 6 Pro for much the same reason as Apple.

Still, we see some promise in the feature. Apple is leveraging it for a 2x digital zoom from the main lens, a plus for working in dim light (the 77mm f/2.8 lens captures less than half the light as the f/1.78 main lens), and we expect it to come in handy when 3x is too long but 1x is too wide.

Hands On With the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Lineup

The 14 Pro and Pro Max do all of the same computational tricks as the regular iPhone 14: Night mode, Portrait mode, and Cinematic bokeh. Raw capture is added for stills—the Apple ProRaw format supports 48MP photos with 12-bit color for twice as much headroom for editing as an HEIF and four times that of an 8-bit JPG.

Its video functions are also upgraded. ProRes 422 recording is available for creators who want to take advantage of 10-bit color and more flexibility when editing footage and color grading in Final Cut Pro. I will warn video folks against buying any 128GB capacity model, however. Apple limits ProRes to 1080p30 for the smallest capacity model. If you step up to 256GB or higher you’ll get ProRes 4K, which is probably what you want. It’s one big downside to Apple’s walled garden—support for USB-C SSDs for external storage would sidestep the issue, but Apple is still sticking with the Lightning port, so creators who want 4K ProRes will need to spend for extra storage up front.

More Refinement Than Innovation

I’m looking forward to spending some time with the iPhone 14’s cameras to see how they handle in the real world, but the specs and feature lists are as impressive as ever. Some worthwhile features that were exclusive to last year’s 13 Pro handsets have made their way into the basic 14 models—of them, sensor shift stabilization is the most significant difference maker for day-to-day imaging. For video, the Cinematic mode will look a lot better on a big screen at 4K than at 1080p, so we’ll look for Gen Z filmmakers to embrace it.

(Credit: Tim Gideon)

The 14 Pro and Pro Max have the attention-grabbing spec, the 48MP sensor. Quad Bayer tech is more about getting a better 12MP photo than using all of those pixels, though, and if you use your phone in JPG of HEIF mode (the default) you’ll get 12MP photos. We’re very curious to see how the 48MP ProRaw will do for detail and how malleable they are for editing.

There’s nothing as groundbreaking here as with previous iPhone cameras. For instance, the iPhone 4 got things started with HDR, the iPhone 7 Plus introduced blurred background portraits, and the iPhone 11 kicked off Night mode photography. That said, Apple wasn’t always first to market with these features, but has always done a great job polishing them and making them easier to use, and we expect that to remain the case with the iPhone 14 lineup.

For more Apple coverage, check out our first listen with the new AirPods Pro and our hands on with the Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Series 8.

Apple’s iPhone 14 Event Supercut