The new and improved Ultra Wide camera on iPhone 14 Pro models should improve your low-light night photography with a much larger sensor with 1.4µm pixels.
- What is happening? TF International Securities Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple will upgrade the iPhone 14 Pro’s ultra-wide-angle camera with a new sensor that should improve low-light sensitivity.
- Why care? The ultra-wide camera is Apple’s worst shooter in terms of night photography, but increasing the pixel size should result in better light capture.
- What to do? Grab your iPhone and take some low-light shots with the ultra-wide camera to test the limits of night photography. If you don’t like what you see, that’s another reason to consider upgrading to the iPhone 14 Pro.
iPhone 14 Pro’s ultra-wide-angle camera deserves some love too
Now, Kuo has previously stated that the main rear camera (which Apple calls “wide”) will replace the new 48-megapixel sensor module in the iPhone 14 Pro. As a result, Pro-branded iPhone 14 models will shoot 8K video and take 48MP photos in good light (or 12MP in low light).
But it looks like Apple’s ultra-wide-angle shooter is taking off this year, too.
According to Kuo’s Twitter, the unannounced iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will use a new sensor with 1.4µm pixels. By comparison, the ultra-wide camera on the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro has a 1.0µm pixel size. Nearly 40 percent larger pixels can capture more light, reducing noise in low noise shooting.
But all of these technologies come at a price.
(3/4) I predict the ultra-wide cameras of the two iPhone 14 Pro models will be upgraded to 1.4µm (compared to 1.0µm on the iPhone 13 Pro). CIS (CMOS Image Sensor), VCM (Voice Coil Motor) and CCM (Compact Camera Module) have significant unit price increases in this update, around 70%, 45% and 40%.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) August 30, 2022
expensive camera
Kuo believes the combined cost of components, including the camera’s image sensor, voice coil motor, and compact camera module, could be 70 percent higher than before.
Apple may pass some of the extra cost on to the consumer as analysts expect the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to cost an extra $100.
The evolution of the iPhone ultra-wide camera
The iPhone’s ultra-wide-angle camera is interesting in many ways.
Firstly, its 120-degree field of view allows you to shoot much wider scenes with more detail, especially landscapes, tall buildings, and so on. Apple has been improving the ultra-wide camera since its debut on the iPhone 11 Pros.
While its capabilities didn’t improve much between the iPhone 11 and 12, the iPhone 13 brought a few improvements to the ultra-wide shooter, including autofocus, macro photography, a six-lens lens, a large f/1.6 aperture, and more.
These improvements allow people to capture clearer nighttime shots taken with the iPhone 13 Pro’s ultra-wide camera. And now, if Kuo is right, Apple will continue to update the iPhone 13 Pro’s ultra-wide-angle camera. Read: iPhone Photography Tips
If you’re moving from an iPhone 12 Pro Max, like this author did, upgrading to an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max sounds like a smart move because it seems like you’re getting the biggest jump in iPhone camera performance.