iPhone 12 Pro Max 'huge leap' in camera quality, says Halide

News
By
published

Halide Iphone
Halide Iphone (Image credit: Halide)

What you need to know

  • Popular photography app developer Halide has released its review of the iPhone 12 Pro Max camera.
  • They say the new device is a "huge leap" forward in quality, capable of images previously only seen in dedicated cameras.

Popular photography app developer Halide has released its iPhone 12 Pro Max camera review, stating the new flagship device from Apple is a "huge leap forward" in iPhone camera quality.

In the review, Halide outlines its quest to do a "very deep, technical analysis of what's new in iPhone 12 cameras this year." Halide notes how Apple dedicated a whole section of the keynote to the new Pro Max device, and that the results from the phone were so surprising that they created a whole separate post about the device.

The review covers the Sensor, 65mm lens, and ProRAW. From the review:

Since the iPhone 12 has a bit more noise, there's less detail. Still, the detail isn't easy to spot in bright daylight. Everything changes between the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Max the moment sunset begins. As shadows get darker and light gets dimmer, you can start seeing shifts in detail. The difference gets dramatic as the sunset progresses...

Once the sun went down during testing, Halide said that there was "no contest" between the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, the Pro Max coming out as the clear winner. The Pro Max also pulled ahead in low-light photography when it comes to stabilization thanks to sensor shift:

The iPhone 12 Pro Max' new sensor-shift technology really shines when you take away that computational magic and focus on traditional, single-shot photography.

You can read the full review here, however Halide concludes:

There are varied opinions about the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Is it a huge leap forward in iPhone camera quality? We say yes— the results speak for themselves... As developers of a camera app, the results mind-blowing. It achieves images previously only seen in dedicated cameras, with sensors four times its size. It allows photographers to get steady and well exposed shots in conditions that weren't imaginable a year ago. It captures low-light shots beyond anything we've seen on an iPhone. By a lot.

Halide says the new iPhone offers "a lot" to advanced photography users, and that we should think of the Pro Max cameras as like the release of a new chip:

We'd compare this camera to a next-generation chip. In daily use, an average person won't notice the signal to noise ratio or longer lens or superb stabilization and sensitivity. But as developers like us build apps for it, and this camera system works its way into future iPhones over the next few years, we can expect even the 'traditional' camera market to be forced to step up.

Stephen Warwick
Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9