iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture for Portrait Mode (2024)

FAQs

IPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture for Portrait Mode? ›

Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters.

"That being said, ultra small sensors and lack of mechanical variable aperture takes away any control over DoF and thus limits the creative expression of the photographer. This may not be an issue for some, but it will certainly annoy others."

Lower aperture numbers means that the background is more out-of-focus. In portrait mode, go to the top right corner of the screen and tap on the Depth button which is a circle with the letter f in it. If you didn't know, the f stands for f-stop and is a measurement used for the aperture on a camera lens.

F-stop is the term used to denote aperture measurements on your camera. The aperture controls the amount of light that enters the camera lens, and it's measured in f-stops.

The best aperture for individual portraits is f/2 to f/2.8. If you're shooting two people, use f/4. For more than two people, shoot at f/5.6.

The main lenses for the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro are both 24mm equivalent focal length. Interestingly, the 14 Pro's has a slightly narrower f/1.78 aperture, compared with f/1.5 for its predecessor.

For full-length portraits, go with narrower apertures like f/4 or f/5.6. This keeps your subject sharp when both near and far from the camera. For group portraits, use smaller apertures like f/5.6 or f/8 to keep everyone in focus. Feel free to experiment within the f/1.8 to f/5.6 range and judge what you like best!

What are the recommended apertures for different types of portraits? Answer: For individual portraits, use f/2 to f/2.8, f/4 for small groups, and f/5.6 for large groups. Close-up portraits benefit from f/5.6, providing a balance between depth of field and subject sharpness.

Aperture was killed back in 2015 only ten years after Apple released their version of a professional photo editing app.

Many cameras have a physical dial that can be turned to adjust aperture (measured in f-stops) — it's ok if yours doesn't have a dial, just check your camera's general settings. Once you've found where the f-stop settings are, you can switch between smaller and larger f-numbers to play with the: Depth of field.

Are iPhone lenses fixed aperture? ›

If I am not mistaken, each of the cameras has a fixed-focal-length, fixed-aperture lens. In Portrait mode, you can use "Depth Control," which I believe takes advantage of the presence of two cameras to add a depth effect by computational means.

The f/16 aperture value at the top left changes to an f (f-stop) icon and a Depth slider appears. Here you can experiment with different background blur amounts by swiping the slider. You can adjust the aperture value before you take a shot and then tweak it later in the Photos app if it looks too blurry.

There is no way to set aperture on iPhones; you can use the different lenses (each with a different f stop) but the lenses will use their native aperture. So nothing is wrong. The app may display a "virtual f/" but that is AI, not actual.

While it's hardly the first smartphone to have variable aperture — the Vivo X90 Pro (curr. $836.80 on TradingShenzen), Xiaomi 14 Pro, and Honor Magic 6 Pro all have variable apertures — the Xiaomi 14 Ultra's variable aperture is far more advanced.

Aperture Mode

The aperture of your smartphone camera is essentially the same as you would find on your DSLR. It controls the amount of light that reaches your smartphone camera sensor.

Key camera specifications: Primary: 12MP 1/1.9-inch sensor, 24mm equivalent f/1.5-aperture lens, Dual PDAF, OIS. Ultra-wide: 12MP sensor, 24mm equivalent f/2.4-aperture lens, PDAF.