iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus Could Still Have Smaller Camera Sensor Than Pro Models Despite Upgrade to 48MP

[Umacga]

What unit of measurement is this article trying to use? “1/1.9 inches” is just shy of half a inch. No WAY the sensors are that large.

They base the nomenclature on the equivalence of sensor area of phototubes from 70 years ago, rather than anything related to the actual sensor size. What's so hard to understand about that?

Seriously though, it's a fairly useless naming scheme. Here's one random article about it: https://www.imaging-resource.com/ne...using-and-misleading-1-inch-type-image-sensor

 

[klasma]

It may not be significant if Apple can use the computing power of the A16 SoC to compensate.

You can't compensate smaller sensors by computing power.

 

[Oscar_440]

well of course, this device only exists for upselling purposes anyway. If they truly cared about providing the best customer experience available, they would put the best tech currently available in "the" iPhonE (singular)

That's Tim's policy. Shaking customers pockets, providing a (just) good user experience.

 

[Torty]

The best way to upgrade to a new iPhone is the get the model two versions behind. So, on an iPhone 11 Pro Max come September? Get a iPhone 13 Pro Max.

You will get iOS updates but less and less features over time. Apple is very smart to take your money 😆

 

[Pinkyyy 💜🍎]

Apple just keeps on expanding the gap between the non-Pro and the Pro iPhones.. The non-Pro models are just starting to feel quite outdated. An older chip, 60hz and no telephoto lens.. I mean, even getting last year’s Pro model sounds like a better option at this point and would actually give you more features.
Like for real, there’s no reason to go for the non-Pro models right now unless you wanna save money and aren’t willing to spend $1000+ on a phone.

Now I kinda miss those days back when there were only two iPhone models : the regular and the plus. They both got all the new features and the only difference between them was the screen size. Now we have the Pro line which gets all the new features for a premium price and the non-Pro line which is basically not any different from last year’s Pro line, and even comes with an older chip.

I’m not saying Apple should completely ditch the non-Pro line, I believe there’s no problem with having choices. There’s nothing wrong with a lower-end option and a higher-end option, but AT LEAST improve the lower-end line and make it more worthy. The non-Pro iPhones should at least come with 120hz ProMotion. 60hz is just ridiculous in 2023, even mid-range Android phones come with 120hz nowadays. And the older chip strategy thing that they began with last year was just wrong.. All models should get the same chip, why would the non-Pro models get last year’s chip ? Again, this just makes them not different from last year’s Pro models which have even more features such as the 120hz ProMotion and the Telephoto lens. The non-Pro iPhone 14 models and the regular iPhone 13 were almost identical, which is why they didn’t sell very well. Most people would rather go for the regular iPhone 13 especially since it was cheaper.

 

[MarioPhone96]

TBH I haven't been impressed in the 48MP (shooting in RAW) not sure why.

Same with my 13 Pro (although it’s 12MP). Seems like there’s an overly-aggressive sharpening effect that applies to photos after I take one. It’s ruined my shots at times.

 

[dampfnudel]

That makes zero sense to me. Why would I get 2-year-old tech just to save 20% on the price?

I think if you have a 11 Pro Max and it’s not on its last legs, it might be smarter to wait for the 16 Pro Max/Ultra. It will be time for a redesign and the camera should get a significant upgrade unlike the 15 Pro Max. Okay, it will get a periscope lens, but the 16 Pro Max should get a notable, second generation improvement with possibly 10x zoom. In addition, you’ll get 40w wired charging, LPDDR5X memory, stacked battery tech, etc.

 

[DrWojtek]

This article is incorrectly quoting a DXOMark review, claiming the sensor size of the iPhone 14 to be 1/1.9. This is most likely a typo in the review coming from the individual pixel size of 1.9 microns.

The sensor of the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus is in fact the same size as the iPhone 13 Pro wide camera; about 1/1.67.

This is easily calculated by taking pixel size of a photo from the 14 camera (3024 x 4032) times the size of each pixel (1.9 microns) divided by 1000 to get millimeters. Giving us a sensor size of 7,6608 x 5,7456 mm, equal to what I just said, around 1/1.67 inches.

Meaning the upgrade on iPhone 15 is much smaller than stated in the article. If I was the editor I’d just toss the entire thing into the trash.

 

[darngooddesign]

After reading the post of "Tim Cook's latest iphone scam explained", this make sense.

Cutting from all the possible sides

Ooooo... I bet its super salty, full of drama like a real-housewives episode.

Remember when Steve Jobs iBooks were never as high-spec as the Powerbooks.

 

[d5aqoëp]

12mp is enough, add Pro-motion instead

Apple will rather go bankrupt than add pro-motion to non-pro models.

 

[darngooddesign]

A 48 megapixel sensor on a lens that will only resolve 10 megapixels is a waste. Stating 48 megapixels is marketing hype. I don't get excited about "new and improved" cameras in cell phones. What I would like to see is higher dynamic range, better low light performance and better focus, not more megapixels.

What exists now is really quite exceptional for a device that fits in one's pocket. Inconceivable 20 years ago even with the best DSLR. Technology advances are amazing.

The benefit of a 48MP sensor is that it downsamples to 12 with more detail/sharpness and less noise than a native 12MP sensor.

 

[AirunJae]

...and TVs would be even cheaper if manufacturer's stopped insisting on trying to make them "smart". I have no use for the built-in apps, but it doesn't seem like you can even buy a "dumb" TV anymore.

Yeah, it's pretty hard to find a totally "dumb" TV. The way I do it is that I've never connected my LG to the WiFi and only use an ethernet cable to connect for any software updates. I just run everything through an AppleTV, which has worked well for us.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Apple keeps crippling their new products.... My AW Ultra has massive bezels, why not just make it just right from the getgo...

No they want the AW Ultra 2 to have 7% smaller bezels as their selling point.

Because of this i will going forward only buy the 4th generation minimum of a new product and only upgrade once every 4+ years....

But feeling less and less obligated to stay with apple.

lol dude. You make it sound like it doesn’t take iterations to get this stuff polished. It’s called iterative development; they don’t pop out of a clam shell all fully formed

 

[Mr. Dee]

You will get iOS updates but less and less features over time. Apple is very smart to take your money 😆

Usually thats a good thing. I am on an iPhone X and I am not on iOS 16 and I don't feel like I am missing out on much to be honest.

 

[Mr. Dee]

That makes zero sense to me. Why would I get 2-year-old tech just to save 20% on the price?

Because you have a life and other expenses.
A phone like the iPhone 13 is more than superior already and you are surely gonna get a good 5 years, probably even more. The reason why Apple cut off my iPhone X it probably it just was not technically possible. Using a comparison, my 2017 iPad Pro with an A10 Fusion supports iOS 17. So, yeah, what we might have seen so far might have been an exception.

 

[menist]

It's still an upgrade. Way better than the sorry 12pro cameras on the regular 13 models. I'm using a non-pro iPhone 13, the camera sucks.

 

[DevNull0]

How useless is a 48mp sensor when it’s small….

That's what I was thinking. My camera has a full frame sensor and it's only 24mp. It's great for printing big 20x30" prints at 200dpi. Stacking stupid numbers of megapixels ended 10 years ago.

Why would anyone want twice the pixels in a pinhead sized phone sensor? To view on a 5 megapixel 12.9 inch iPad pro with an 11" wide screen?

 

[DevNull0]

You can't compensate smaller sensors by computing power.

iPhone pics these days are basically ai generated drawings using the crappy noise-laden mess from the cheap camera as a prompt.

 

[reggoboy]

increasing from 1/1.28-inches to 1/1.14-inches

How is that an increase? Are these dimensions? A fraction?

 

[iSayuSay]

So the cripple a phone on many levels and still ask for $799 or even more?

I recently looked for a new TV and was surprised that TVs despite their size and all those modern features cost much less than smartphones. It seems TVs are getting cheaper while smartphones are getting more expensive. For €749 you already get a 48 inch OLED TV. There are TVs with a screen size over 80 inch for the price of an iPhone 14 Pro.

Well yes I agree, smartphones can be crazy expensive for what it is. HDR viewing, gigantic screen you can get all those features with OLED TV, and you can still use it for what 5, 10 years maybe even longer when you plug in a modern streamer like Apple TV? Smartphones only good for 3 - 5 years top before it starts being obsolete. But the content industry circles around it.

 

[svish]

The cameras should still be an upgrade from the 14 non Pro models

 

[HiRez]

I don’t want a 1st gen usb-c phone so I’m waiting for the 16.

Why would “first gen” USB-C be a sticking point for you? Apple’s been building USB-C devices for years.

 

[iSayuSay]

I don’t want a 1st gen usb-c phone so I’m waiting for the 16. It’s time for a new form factor too. Do you think Apple will get rid of the rounded corners and go with squared off like Samsung S series eventually?

Macbooks, iPads, Studio Displays. There has been literally millions of Apple products that has been shipped with USB-C and Thunderbolt 4 for years?

Lightning port is taking less and less portion at Apple over recent years, and I'm happy to see it finally gone 100%.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Don’t need no analyst to predict or explain this.

Anyone who has read the actual spec sheets (not Apple’s marketing) or watched any tear downs of Apple products know that Apple rarely uses the exact same hardware components in the midrange iPhones compared to the Pros even if they are presented as being the identical when looking at the comparison pages on apple.com.

It goes even further when you compare the low-end iPhone to midrange. SEs get it even worse with many more cheap(er) components.

Not that non-Pro iPhones are low quality or bad value. They are just much lower value per dollar than you’d come to believe if you just compared each spec and feature that Apple presents on Apple.com and in its presentations.

TLDR: Apple will cut more corners on hardware components than you can ever imagine unless you go Pro. And you might not even be “safe” by just getting Pro as just getting the baseline 128GB model might lock you out of using certain camera features.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

I don’t want a 1st gen usb-c phone so I’m waiting for the 16. It’s time for a new form factor too. Do you think Apple will get rid of the rounded corners and go with squared off like Samsung S series eventually?

The company that has managed to create the biggest collection of needlessly proprietary iterations on USB is surely not the one that’s going to struggle implementing USB-C in a smartphone.

You think USB-C is a major technological shift that will cause issues for users, something that Apple won’t get right in the first generation USB-C iPhones?

The Lightning propaganda really has taken its toll! Wow.

-Apple has been using USB-C in MacBooks and iPads and Beats audio products for years and years. How would there be any issues putting it in iPhones?

What kind of Apple Kool-Aid have you been drinking?

Lightning is already USB tech internally. Switching to USB-C is merely switching the physical exterior connectors and ports and (hopefully) disabling all the MFi blocking software that Apple uses to bug us into buying the cables and accessories they earn royalties on.

It’s not even worth explaining or discussing, that’s how easy switching to USB-C will be (but a major positive impact for consumers long term).

And as we’ve seen with iPad 10, Apple can even implement the same USB 2.0 data transfer speeds that Lightning fanatics love so much. So the change might be entirely superficial.