iPhone 14 camera: what to expect

apples The iPhone 14 series is only a few months away and of course leaks abound about what to expect. By quirky design choices for the iPhone 14 colors we are slowly getting a clearer picture of what to expect.

Speaking of photos, we also have some juicy clues when it comes to the cameras of the upcoming iPhone 14 models. For the first time in ages, we expect a leap in resolution, and for another year in a row, we’re bracing ourselves for a bigger camera hump to house more tech inside.

Let’s get into more detail!

iPhone 14 camera upgrades: what we expect

The rumor mill is heavy with leaks about a new 48MP main sensor for the iPhone 14 cameras. In theory, this would allow the new iPhones to finally record in 8K video. Not that there are currently many consumer devices that can play super high resolution images, but Android phones have been able to do this for a few years now. If Apple wants its iPhones to remain highly regarded as wearable video cameras, it will probably want to get started with that sooner rather than later.

As a side effect, Apple can once again achieve great low-light performance by placing the 48 megapixels in groups of 4 to capture 12 MP photos with great dynamic range and enhanced shadows.

The new i-notch will also reportedly include an improved selfie camera with a wider aperture than before and autofocus, rather than a fixed focus.

How many cameras does the iPhone 14 have?

As before, we expect Apple to implement the proven formula of two cameras on the non-Pro models, triple cameras with an additional LiDAR on the Pro models.

So the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max (alleged name) will have two cameras: main wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have the main wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle and a telephoto camera for portraits and optical zoom. At the moment there is no reason to assume that the telephoto will be any different than before, ie 3x zoom.

iPhone 14 camera upgrades

48 megapixel sensors

Apple has stuck with a 12MP main camera sensor on its iPhones for years. The sensor itself did grow in size, though, so all those pixels would get a little bigger with each upgrade, culminating in the iPhone 13 series camera, which is really great at collecting light and capturing vibrant colors.

However, analysts and experts agree that the iPhone 14 series will take a big leap here – the cameras are expected to equipped with a new 48 MP sensor. And remember, we’re talking about the main camera here – the one shared by all iPhones in a row. So that upgrade, if history tells us, should come to all four expected iPhone 14 models.

This rumor is disputed by some who argue that Apple will use the same 12MP sensors of the iPhone 13 for another new generation. And that’s not hard to believe given how disinterested Apple is in the general specs war going on in tech circles.

8K video recording

But it’s about more than a simple resolution boost. A 48MP sensor will remove the physical limitation for iPhones to be able to record videos in 8K – something competitor Samsung has had on its devices since the Galaxy S20 two years ago. iPhones are currently considered the king of video quality among their smartphone peers, and Apple probably doesn’t want to let that reputation go. That’s why Cupertino is probably gearing up to make that upgrade.

Better night mode

Of course, having more pixels on a sensor inevitably means they would be smaller, raising concerns about its light-gathering capabilities. Leaks say the iPhone 14 sensor will be 1/1.3-inch in size and have slightly smaller 1.25 µm pixels, compared to the iPhone 13’s 1.9 µm pixels. However, don’t be scared yet. It’s very, very likely that Apple would use the “pixel binning” method — for lower-resolution photos and videos. Basically, clumping the pixels together in groups of 4, with each small group acting as one “very large pixel”. This means we would still get 12MP photos with fantastic dynamic range and nighttime performance.

Selfie camera with autofocus

iPhone 14 dummy shows what the selfie camera cutout will look like

There is reportedly another major upgrade to the selfie cameras of the iPhone 14 models. For the first time ever, Apple is introducing a front-facing autofocus camera with a wider aperture of F1.9. A wide aperture allows more light to enter, but also introduces more blur into out-of-focus objects, which in turn requires autofocus. In comparison, the iPhone 13 series has fixed focus front cameras with an aperture of F2.2.

As for the resolution of the front sensors, we still don’t have the information.