Apple’s newest iPhone is going pro.
In a major product announcement on Tuesday, Apple unveiled a highly-anticipated new round of iPhones which includes the premium $999 iPhone 11 Pro and its larger counterpart, the iPhone Pro Max, for $1099.
Among the phone’s standout features is the addition of an extra rear-facing camera lens, which brings the grand total to three.
The Pro’s array of cameras will include the wide and ultra-wide lenses featured in the standard iPhone 11 model and add a 2x telephoto lens capable of shooting extra-long or short distance under low-light.
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The Pro will come in several colors, including a midnight green, space gray, silver and gold, pictured above
| iPhone 11 | iPhone Pro | iPhone Pro Max |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity: – 64 GB – 128 GB – 265 GB |
Capacity: – 64 GB – 256 GB – 512 GB |
Capacity: – 64 GB – 256 GB – 512 GB |
| Display: – Liquid Retina HD display – 6.1‑inch (diagonal) all-screen – LCD Multi-Touch display with IPS technology – 1792‑by‑828‑pixel resolution at 326 ppi 1400:1 |
Display: – Super Retina XDR display – 5.8‑inch (diagonal) all‑screen OLED – 2436‑by‑1125-pixel resolution at 458 ppi 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical) |
Display: – Super Retina XDR display 6.5‑inch (diagonal) all‑screen OLED – Multi‑Touch display HDR display – 2688‑by‑1242-pixel resolution at 458 ppi 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical) |
| Chip: A13 Bionic chip Third‑generation Neural Engine |
Chip: A13 Bionic chip Third‑generation Neural Engine |
Chip: A13 Bionic chip Third‑generation Neural Engine |
| Camera:
– Dual 12MP Ultra Wide and Wide cameras Ultra Wide: – 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 5x Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control – Portrait Lighting with six effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High-Key Mono) Optical image stabilization (Wide) |
Camera: – Triple 12MP Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto cameras Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture – Telephoto: ƒ/2.0 aperture 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 10x Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control Portrait Lighting with six effects |
Camera: Triple 12MP Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto cameras Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view Wide: ƒ/1.8 aperture – Telephoto: ƒ/2.0 aperture – Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control |
| Video: – 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps – 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps 720p HD video recording at 30 fps – Extended dynamic range for video up to 60 fps Optical image stabilization for video (Wide) 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 3x Audio zoom – Brighter True Tone flash – QuickTake video with subject tracking – Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps |
Video: – 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps – 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps 720p HD video recording at 30 fps – Extended dynamic range for video up to 60 fps Optical image stabilization for video (Wide and Telephoto) 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 6x Audio zoom – Brighter True Tone flash – QuıckTake video with subject tracking – Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps |
Video: – 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps – 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps 720p HD video recording at 30 fps – Extended dynamic range for video up to 60 fps Optical image stabilization for video (Wide and Telephoto) 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; digital zoom up to 6x Audio zoom – Brighter True Tone flash – QuıckTake video with subject tracking – Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps |
All three of the lenses are housed in a fairly large module on the back of the phone and can be selected in the Pro’s interface using the phone’s new camera software.
While all three camera units boast 12 megapixels, one of the main differences between the wide/ultra-wide and the telephoto comes in focal length size.
With a 56 mm focal length the telephoto lens is capable of capturing 40 percent more light compared to the company’s previous high-end model, the iPhone XS.
That extra light will enable a long-awaited ‘Night-Mode’ which is designed specifically for taking pictures in low amounts of natural or artificial light.
As for video, each of the cameras in the iPhone 11 Pro is capable of shooting in 4K resolution and is aided by Apple’s ‘cinematic video stabilization’ which helps to reduce camera-shake.
A front-facing camera is also 12 megapixels and is capable of shooting 4K video at 60 frames-per-second to enable slow-motion video.
Camera resolution and an array of lens options will help position the Pro as a type of everything-device for filmmakers, photographers, and more.
‘iPhone 11 Pro has the first triple-camera system in iPhone and is far and away the best camera we’ve ever made, it provides our customers with great range of creative control and advanced photo and video editing features in iOS 13,’ said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max boast several improvements over the standard iPhone 11 models, including a third telephoto camera lens.
Perhaps even more advanced than the Pro’s hardware, however, is the software designed to orchestrate the phone’s improved camera array.
Apple announced what it calls a ‘next-generation Smart HDR’ which can identify subjects in a frame and use machine learning to relight them for natural and sharper images.
Smart HDR will work in tandem with yet another smart feature called ‘Deep Fusion’ which also leverages the iPhone 11’s machine-learning module, the Neural Engine.
Deep Fusion, which is set to be rolled out in the fall, is a brand new image processing system which uses a total of nine images to stitch together, pixel-by-pixel, the best possible photo.
The system, which Schiller called ‘computational mad science’ works by taking four short images, four secondary images, and then one longer exposure and then using the phone’s built in AI to comb through billions of pixels and choose which ones will make the sharpest, best-looking, photo.
To help run all of the flashy new camera software, the iPhone 11 Pro will use Apple’s new A13 Bionic chip.
Picture above is the difference between a photo taken with and without the Pro’s new ‘Night Mode.’ A third telephoto lens is capable of capturing 40 percent more light.
According to the company, not only is the newest chip slightly faster than its predecessor — A13 Bionic is capable of crunching 1 trillion operations per second, making it 20 percent faster than the A12 — but it’s also more efficient.
By utilizing hundreds of voltage and clock gates and machine learning, the A13 can shut off different parts of the chip when they’re not in use, making it exceptionally good at conserving energy.
That added efficiency translates to four more hours of battery life of the standard iPhone 11 model and, for the iPhone Pro 11 Max, five more hours.
For customers interested in buying into Apple’s new game-streaming service, Apple Arcade, that extra battery life may be enough to entice them into dolling out the extra money.
The Pro’s design features a surgical grade stainless steel with a machine glass backing and matte textured finish.
Its has an OLED, True Tone display that achieves 1,200 nits – a unit of luminescence – meaning pictures will be ultra-clear, and ultra-bright. It is essentially a ‘Mac Pro display being built into iPhone,’ the company says.
It will also have Super Retina XDR display and spatial audio sound, thanks to Dolby Atmos.
