iPhone 17 could bring far more depth-of-field control with a variable aperture
At least one model from the iPhone 17 lineup in 2025 is rumored to bring a variable aperture for better control over the depth of field.
The Information explains why folks who take a lot of pictures with their iPhones are going to love one of the models from the iPhone 17 lineup, launching in 2025.
“Apple next year plans a notable upgrade to the camera of at least one iPhone model, adding the ability for users to control the size of the aperture with a mechanical system,” reads the report. A variable aperture that you can adjust is undoubtedly going to improve your depth-of-filed photos. True iPhone photographers may want to skip the iPhone 16 and wait for the iPhone 17.
Aperture, expressed in f-stops, is the size of the hole on the lens through which light passes and hits the image sensor. Traditional cameras use aperture blades to control the size of the aperture. The article doesn’t explain how Apple’s supposed mechanical system would work, but it certainly won’t be trivial to implement.
How aperture works on iPhones and traditional cameras
As the site explains, a variable aperture will let you achieve a depth-of-field effect that looks much more natural than Apple’s Portrait Mode. Depth-of-field, or bokeh, refers to the effect where the subject stays in focus while the background is blurred.
Apple’s camera aperture is fixed due to limited space inside the iPhone. Therefore, the company had to develop various tricks to enable portraiture photography with the Portrait Mode in the Camera app, like creating a subject’s depth map to generate the bokeh effect in software.
iPhones with dual and triple rear cameras can still create natural depth-of-field if you switch to a longer focal length. However, the effect is not as pronounced as the digital bokeh in Portrait Mode.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2024/07/25/iphone-17-variable-aperture-rumor/
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