Will the iPhone 16 Series Turn the Tide on Imaging? Hardware Lags Behind, Algorithm Advantage Being Surpassed

Will the iPhone 16 Series Turn the Tide on Imaging? Hardware Lags Behind, Algorithm Advantage Being SurpassedBloomberg's senior reporter Mark Gurman has officially confirmed that Apple's fall event is scheduled for September 10th, where the new iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods will be launched. Lei Technology has already released a large amount of information about the iPhone 16, but the leaks closer to the release date, especially within a month, are more credible

Will the iPhone 16 Series Turn the Tide on Imaging? Hardware Lags Behind, Algorithm Advantage Being Surpassed

Bloomberg's senior reporter Mark Gurman has officially confirmed that Apple's fall event is scheduled for September 10th, where the new iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods will be launched. Lei Technology has already released a large amount of information about the iPhone 16, but the leaks closer to the release date, especially within a month, are more credible. In recent years, all information about the new iPhone has been leaked before its release. Today, this article will focus on the camera of the iPhone 16 series. After all, in today's core phone functions, imaging and communication have become equally important. When it comes to smartphone imaging, the iPhone remains a presence that no one can ignore. However, the iPhone's imaging has been lagging behind for the past two years. So, can the iPhone 16 series make a comeback in imaging?

Information from AppleInsider suggests that the entire iPhone 16 series will see some improvements in the camera and will include a new physical camera button and JPEG-XL image format. It seems that in 2024, Apple is finally going to "learn" from Android manufacturers and prioritize the imaging module to redeem itself.

iPhone 16 Pro/Max Sensors Lagging, Telephoto Lens Upgraded

Let's talk about the higher-end iPhone 16 Pro/Max. Last year, Lei Technology predicted that the ProMax version of the iPhone 16 series would use a true one-inch sensor, and the telephoto and wide-angle lenses would also be upgraded accordingly. This was the only way Apple could compete with Android imaging flagships.

Unfortunately, according to leaks, the iPhone 16 Pro/Max will still use the Sony IMX903 sensor, which measures 1/1.28 inches. While this isn't small, it's still significantly less than the LYT-900 used by Android flagships. Therefore, the iPhone 16 Pro/Max is destined to lag behind Android imaging flagships in terms of picture quality, depth of field, and dynamic range. In terms of imaging, hardware is the limit, and algorithms are the ceiling. It is difficult to compensate for the hardware gap through software algorithms. The performance of the iPhone 16 series in the main camera is unlikely to surpass the many Android imaging flagships.

However, the ultra-wide-angle lens of the iPhone 16 Pro/Max will upgrade from 12MP to 48MP, with the same pixel binning technology as the main camera. When using the 48MP mode, the pixel size of a single photo is 0.7m, while it's 1.4m in the 12MP mode (consistent with the iPhone 15 Pro/Max). This is the first time Apple has used two high-resolution sensors in an iPhone.

The telephoto lens also sees an upgrade. Both the iPhone 16 Pro and ProMax will be equipped with a 5x telephoto lens, but whether it will be as "strictly tiered" as the 15 series remains unclear. The iPhone 15 Pro has the simplest telephoto lens, while the iPhone 15 ProMax features a better periscope telephoto lens. However, this division isn't due to Apple being "cheap" but rather limited by design space: With both the main camera and ultra-wide-angle sensors adopting large-sensor models, it's difficult to fit a bulky periscope telephoto camera into the 6.1-inch Pro version, but it's much easier to design for the 6.7-inch ProMax.

Another leak suggests that the iPhone 16 series might support shooting 48MP ProRaw photos. These photos contain more image data, which is good news for those who like to post-process images. However, ProRaw also has a significant drawback: a single photo will take up an average of 80MB, so it's recommended to turn off this option for everyday shooting.

iPhone 16/Plus "Inherits" 15 Series, Not Worth Expecting

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus maintain the same main camera specifications as the iPhone 15 series, with a 1/1.5-inch, 48MP sensor and f/1.6 aperture. The ultra-wide-angle lens upgrades the aperture from f/2.4 to f/2.2. Good news for Apple fans: the macro shooting function, previously exclusive to the Pro series, is finally being "passed down" to the standard version. While Lei Technology has never understood why Apple would create "tiered" access to the relatively simple macro function, it's good that Apple is willing to upgrade the 16 series a bit.

Almost forgot, there's another upgrade in the imaging hardware of the iPhone 16 series: all models will be equipped with a physical camera button located at the bottom right. This means that the camera bump will be at the top when holding the phone horizontally, making it more ergonomic.

This design isn't revolutionary. The Nubia Z5mini, released in 2013, already featured a dedicated camera button. Later, for various reasons, manufacturers gradually abandoned this design. It remains to be seen if Apple can make something exceptional out of this physical camera button. However, one thing is certain: some Apple loyalists will view this design as a "major innovation breakthrough" or a "human-computer interaction revolution," just as they did when promoting "Dynamic Island."

In terms of hardware, the imaging improvements of the iPhone 16 series are almost negligible. It seems Apple is still relying on algorithm tuning and software interaction?

JPEGXL Format, the iPhone 16's Biggest Imaging Trick?

Apple will be using the new JPEG-XL image format for the first time in the iPhone 16 series, making it one of the few, if not the only, phones in the market that supports HEIF, JPEG, HEIFMax, ProRaw, ProRAWMax, and JPEG-XL image formats.

Many readers might not know what this JPEGXL format is all about. Today, Lei Technology will give you a brief explanation.

Currently, most of the image formats we use are JPEG. It's one of the international image compression standards and the most widely used image format. However, Apple and Microsoft have been promoting the HEIF format, which offers higher compression rates without sacrificing much picture quality, further reducing the file size.

JPEGXL is similar. Strictly speaking, it's the "successor" to JPEG. It supports both lossy and lossless compression formats, improving compression performance by 60% compared to JPEG. More importantly, it also boasts very high compatibility, making it the only format on the market that can losslessly re-encode JPEG images. Additionally, it supports color depths beyond 8 bits, which is great news for photographers, as many cameras now output 10-bit or 12-bit photos. Previously, every output to JPEG format would experience color banding due to the 8-bit color limitations.

JPEGXL also has other features like supporting large-size printing, optimization for the web environment, and fast decoding. In short, you just need to understand that JPEGXL is superior to JPEG in all aspects.

The biggest issue with JPEGXL currently is that very few products support it, meaning its ecosystem is almost non-existent. Even though the JPEGXL format has been around for several years, it hasn't gained widespread adoption. Apple's entry will undoubtedly accelerate the widespread adoption of the JPEGXL format.

Can JPEGXL become another selling point for Apple, like LivePhoto? Lei Technology believes it won't, because its impact on the user experience is relatively minimal.

Apple's Hardware Lags Behind, Imaging Algorithm Advantage Has Vanished

It's undeniable that Apple is truly adept at optimizing camera algorithms. Compared to Android's emphasis on tone and texture, Apple focuses more on optimizing everyday shooting scenarios. However, the hardware gap objectively exists. Probably many readers will be wondering, can the iPhone 16 Pro series truly compete with Android flagships in imaging capabilities? Lei Technology believes the answer is no.

The gap in imaging hardware between Apple and Android is widening, while the algorithm advantage is shrinking or even vanishing. Today's Android manufacturers are no longer the same as they were years ago, blindly piling on features and emphasizing product hype over actual experience. Manufacturers like Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, who have been on the path to high-end phones for years, have long understood the importance of "user experience" and "differentiation" in imaging. They have put this into practice in their iterations.

Take Xiaomi and vivo as examples. They have developed a set of algorithms that perfectly suit the market and consumer aesthetics. They are no longer obsessed with increasing image brightness and sharpness as they were in the past. Instead, they have developed a complete set of their own aesthetics. With the support of professional imaging brands like Leica and Zeiss, they are gradually building their unique style. The market feedback on Android imaging flagships shows that domestic manufacturers have undoubtedly been very successful in their pursuit of imaging. This shows that Android manufacturers are not just relying on hardware stacking to attract consumers but are making up for the algorithm deficiency and striving to make imaging a part of their brand's style.

Apple's once-