It was already known that the iPhone 13 camera would receive all kinds of new functions and improvements. But the Pro models get even more extra options. Bloomberg now writes in a new report that the focus of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max is on new camera features. This mainly concerns improvements for filming, including filming with a portrait mode.
#1: ‘iPhone 13 Pro gets filming in portrait mode: Cinematic Video’
The new portrait mode for video in the iPhone 13 Pro would have been given the name Cinematic Video internally, although it is not yet clear whether this is the name that Apple will also use in the future. It is a video version of the current portrait mode, which was first introduced in 2016 with the iPhone 7 Plus. Apple has since improved portrait mode with new filters, but this is the first time a video variant is coming as well.
The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max use the depth sensor to measure the distance to the objects to be filmed, creating a blur around the person you are filming. After recording, you could still change the amount of blur in the editing. The feature remains exclusive to the more expensive pro models, presumably due to the third camera lens.
#2: ‘ProRes: higher quality filming’
Apple will also be introducing a feature called ProRes, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said. It seems to be a kind of equivalent of ProRAW, which was added to the iPhone 12 Pro last year. With ProRes you can make video recordings in a higher quality, so that you have more options in post-processing to achieve a better result. It is the same format that would be used by professional video editors. Apple uses the HD or 4K resolutions for ProRes.
#3: ‘New filters for your photos’
A third new feature has to do with enhancing your photos afterwards. The Camera app already has several filters and lets you adjust saturation and more, but on the iPhone 13 Pro Apple would go a little further. There are different styles that you can choose from. Examples that Bloomberg mentions are a filter with deep shadows and more contrast. The difference with the normal filters is that the new filters are applied per object in the photo. The current filters appear as a single filter over the entire photo.
Bloomberg also repeats the previous rumors about the iPhone 13. For example, he says that the new models will have a smaller notch, a screen with a high refresh rate and a new A15 chip.