Decades ago I owned a lot of camera equipment which was frequently somewhere else when I wished I could capture some life event. I haven’t used a professional grade camera in decades but I do have some memories, saved with a smart phone, that I wouldn’t trade for any amount of money.
Smart phones are not great cameras, but the exposure of the photos they take is normally good to excellent thanks to the electronics in a modern smartphone. And that’s enough to make most people happy with the results, which are normally shot vertical and not very well composed.
I didn’t mean it that literally, though I see why you thought I did. I meant it from an everyday practical standpoint, not that you can’t beat the specs and capabilities of any smartphone camera with a very good to excellent standalone camera. (It’s a bit like saying “It’s hard to beat a computer you can fold up and carry with you,” which doesn’t mean there aren’t computers more powerful than any laptop.)
Many or most of the best opportunities for photos happen when you least expect them, but most people don’t want a camera around their necks all the time. The best camera is the one you’ll actually use, not the highly capable one you leave sitting in a drawer because you don’t want to carry it around.
The rumours are that the SE will get bigger and I doubt Apple will do a Mini again, they’re rarely a company that revisits hardware things they feel were a failure.
Definitely where I am at. I might have to resist the possible/future camera improvements. I do like the big screen when I’m using it, but the huge phone in my pocket, the last of one-handed use, etc….I think I gotta jump back down.
Also, I realize 90% of the time I travel with an iPad (even ditching the keyboard if I need to lighten the load. Meaning I probably don’t need a huge iPhone screen.
My wife will upgrade her XS this year and I will be handed my son’s 12 to replace my SE2. He is now working full time and can afford a new phone for himself.
I hope Apple will bring back a mini phone as my daughter loves her 13 mini but doesn’t like any of the larger offerings.
Apple Intelligence…it will have to be exceptional for me to be swayed by it.
I deliberately took you literally, even though I knew you didn’t intend to be literal, because such statements are so often used without any thought as to what they actually mean. More so the one I dislike the most “The best camera is the one you have with you.”
I would like to suggest “Better to have a camera than no camera.” I think that perfectly describes the sentiment that most people mean without making any claims on the device.
I tend to get grumpy on this subject because I really care about photographic quality and am routinely disappointed by iPhone cameras, even in situations they should be able to do well in. If I upgrade to a 16 I fully expect to have this experience yet again.
I fully intended on staying with my 13 Mini forever, but the battery life was always the limiting factor. The other issue I had was that not all app developers continue to develop their apps with the Mini in mind, and some features would either be entirely missing or micronized to the point that tapping them was impossible.
Rumor has it that in 2025 there will be an iPhone slim. The AI thing is compelling since cameras have come to the point that there ain’t much they can do for camera upgrades. It’s all about the RAM and the CPU. Still, I wish for Apple to make the phone act as a limited everyday usage of a laptop/iPad if connected to a bigger screen (usb-c) with a mouse and KB BT capabilities. It will kill the iPad mini LOL But they will dominate completely all other phones.
Welcome. I’ve seen examples of smartphones being used this way and would be surprised if doesn’t become more common at some point in the future. I’ve been using an iPad as my main computer for several years and only need a Mac due to limitations Apple imposes on the device. So there is no reason I couldn’t use a iPhone with the proper accessories.
I believe I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think the question of what’s a better or the best camera is very meaningful except in the context of for who and for what purpose.
In a strict technical sense the best computer is probably some supercomputer at CERN or something, but it wouldn’t be the best or even a good computer for most people.
Similarly, the latest iPhone cameras (especially the Pro and Pro Max versions) may not be the best cameras for professional and prosumer photographers (like you, probably). But for most people the photos they take are more than good enough, and after that their most important feature for most people is that they’re integrated into a device they have within reach almost all the time.
That makes them the best camera for most people, much better than a technically superior camera they’d leave sitting in a drawer most or all of the time.
So with that preface, I stand by my original statement, and I suppose I do mean it literally after all:
For most people, it’s hard to beat a camera that’s always with you, fits easily in your pocket or bag, is relatively sturdy, and takes great photos, even (in newer models) in low light.
As a serious photographer you may always be disappointed by them, but I can see the improvement in photos from my 15 Pro Max over those from my wife’s 14 Pro Max, and expect those from the equivalent 16 to be even better.
That got me to move from the garden-variety 11 to the garden-variety 15. Of my Apple devices, the only one that’s not USB-C right now is my AirPods Max. And that never really leaves my desk.
Unless AI massively takes off and is compellingly awesome, I don’t see another phone upgrade in my future for at least a couple of years - probably more.
I get what you are saying and there is plenty of truth in it. But… when my 11 Pro cannot take a photo of trees on a sunny day without it being obviously over-processed, I call it a crappy camera. The goal was nothing more than “that looks nice” and yet the result was “that no longer looks nice”.
I will see what my next phone is capable of… I have some specific trees in mind that I see often… but what I think some reviewers miss is every year when they call the cameras amazing… they forget they said the same thing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and more years ago. If they’re amazing today, they can’t really have been amazing back then. At the same time, some say “not much better than last year.”
Once I can take a photo of a simple natural scene and it actually looks… you know… natural… well, then I’ll start complaining about some other aspect probably.
Mind you… I will be upgrading a 5 year timespan, so it had better give me decent photos.
I can relate, but I would not call it a crappy camera. It’s just the perfect point-and-shoot camera for almost everyone. My 15 Pro Max has surprised me in the fact hat all pictures look great, but they look great in the same way. No fiddling needed, almost every shot could directly go to a Instagram feed. I cannot say the same with my X100T, which is much more temperamental but offers much more creative control if you know what you’re doing.
What I miss now that I have this camera in my pocket is the intentionality of taking pictures. I kind of forget that I have this thing with me, so it is basically a very expensive instant camera for meetings and parties. When I was shooting with my X100T or the RX100, I remembered that the reason I was carrying it with me is because I had to take pics!
I think you’ll probably notice a big difference going to a 16 Pro. I went the same number of generations from a Xs Max to a 15 Pro Max, and there’s no comparison.
I’m still sticking by my description. Sunny day, trees, water… ruined by a terrible photo, because it was over-processed. But…
…this is what the iPhone is. If everyone who loves the iPhone camera could suffix their claims with that I would have no disagreement whatsoever!
It remains to be seen whether an iPhone 16 will win me over in any way, but this description is the antithesis of my life. If we’re using Instagram as the benchmark, I understand the disagreement. I look at my photos on large screens. I also have one 9-shot panorama printed on metal a metre wide hanging on my wall, and another on acrylic at 10" square. Not a few inches on a screen in my hand.
I’m kind of on board with this thinking. Except most of the time I take my DSLR out, it is with the hope of taking pictures and sometimes I come back with very few or occasionally none. The point is, I explicitly take it where there is a chance I will get great pictures. One regular location I go is the local ecosanctuary where I love taking photos of birds, but have more than once returned without even clicking the shutter and that’s OK because it was still a nice walk.
I live in hope then! Although I am seriously considering not going for the Pro. The price premium is mostly for the cameras so, given my thinking above, it may not be worth it for me. I can take that saved wodge of cash and put it towards a really nice lens for my DSLR.
I understand your thinking and it’s your choice, but if you do that you won’t be able to fairly judge what the best iPhone camera is currently capable of.
True, but I’m getting a 5 year upgrade and the standard camera on the 16 Pro is, I believe, almost identical to the same camera on the 16.
In any case, while I’ve found phone photos lacking so far, I’m still heavily invested in my DSLR for when quality really matters. I have spent more on lenses this year than I have on iPhones for the last 8 years.
While I won’t be able to judge how good the best iPhone camera system is, I’m still confident my DSLR setup will be better for many situations that I care about.
FWIW, I have ordered the 16. I do not expect to regret that.
I’m sure a good DSLR will beat any phone camera in the hands of a skilled photographer, but I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the latest iphone camera compared to your old one.
One disadvantage of phone cameras is that they’re built into disposable devices that quickly become obsolete. You’ll probably be able to use those DSLR lenses for the rest of your life, and certainly longer than your new iPhone is going to last you.
