iPhone XS and iPhone XS MaxSource: iMore

What you need to know

  • Photographer John Kraus took a photo of a rocket using his iPhone XS Max.
  • The rocket was a SpaceX CRS-19.
  • The photo looks better than a phone has any right to produce.

In the tech world we're all guilty of chasing the latest, hottest, flashiest, and fastest thing. This year that's iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. But that's unfair to iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Until 2019, they were the best iPhones ever made. And photographer John Kraus has reminded us (via 512Pixels) just how good their cameras are, too.

Kraus took his iPhone XS Max and placed it near the launch site of SpaceX's CRS-19 rocket. The result is a shot that looks highly impressive and reminds us once again that perhaps we don't really need the latest iPhone in order to take some amazing shots.

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#ShotoniPhone + remote camera photography at the launchpad = 🤯 — Here’s an up-close look at yesterday’s SpaceX launch of CRS-19, captured using an iPhone XS Max placed at Space Launch Complex 40, just about 850 feet from the rocket, the day before liftoff. I’m continuously amazed at what modern smartphones can capture and I’ve enjoyed pushing the envelope with phones in the last few months. After a failed attempt to use an iPhone as a remote camera earlier this year, I was incredibly surprised to find images on the phone post-launch. If you’re unfamiliar with remote camera photography and my work in general: This phone operated autonomously from a distance that is unsafe for humans to watch the launch, which makes capturing these closeup images all the more difficult. 📱🚀

A post shared by John Kraus 🚀 (@johnkrausphotos) on

Now admittedly this isn't going to make me trade my iPhone 11 Pro in for a used iPhone XS. But if you're still on the fence about upgrading, this might make you think twice. Especially if you've been happy with your iPhone XS and its photography prowess to this point.