iPhone 16 Pro camera: DISAPPOINTING & MISLEADING

Professional photographer Tony Northrup dissects the iPhone 16 Pro & Pro Max announcement, which largely centers on improvements to the world's most popular smartphone camera. However, based on his previous experience with unchanged components (including the quad-pixel "48 megapixel" main camera and lens), he knows the new camera won't deliver upon Apple's promises.

First, the 48 megapixel resolution is absolutely fake. Tony shows that it delivers around 6 megapixels of actual detail in ideal circumstances.

Second, when you zoom in using the fake 2X zoom lens, the quality becomes absolutely horrible. Apple has given the super-wide angle 13mm lens the same fake 48 megapixel treatment, and you can expect the same lack of actual improved image quality.

[Bugside]

Tony can tell it like it is because he isn't a phone reviewer, isn't invited to Apple events and doesn't get free phones, so he's got nothing to lose

[Lemonsware]

This is awesome. Makes my old dslr feel a bit more relevant 😂

[truthseeker]

i respect Tony for this. hes the only one who looks past the fancy camera button and showcases all the lies in the marketing.

[truthseeker]

apple 6mm focal length is actually the megapixel, they got the labels wrong.

[truthseeker]

its very annoying when apple and their reviewers keep promoting the lies of multiple focal lengths when its just crops. in that case any real camera with one lens can claim it has 10 lenses and it would be detailed than the iPhone in all the crops. i stopped watching phone reviews long ago. they're just marketing guys for these companies. phone cameras hasn't gotten better in at least 3 years.

[youroom]

Why won't they be honest with their customers and say it's good for a phone instead of the 48-megapixel nonsense.

[truthseeker]

the day apple would have a real camera's 48-megapixel image quality, they would crop in a 100x and call it some fancy words.

[csucameli]

I don't know that i'd call Apple an "American manufacturer." An American company, but all manufacturing happens overseas.

[V-adventurous]

I don’t think I’ll upgrade to the latest iPhone this year. Previous years I use to upgrade my iPhone because of the camera improvements but this year I got me a full frame camera and I really don’t see a need to upgrade this year.

[mmarzett]

I've got a TON of Apple stuff. I'm appalled by Apple's deceptive marketing, but since my iPhone 12 is getting long in the tooth, I'll probably grab a 16 Pro. I generally take my R6 Mk II with me most of the time, but my phone is literally ALWAYS on me. I agree with you Tony, that Apple should really try collaborating with a camera/lens manufacturer(s) to get their sensors and optics improved. Hopefully one day, they will.

[Bugside]

They say they use more megapixels and bin them down to usable size. But if the sensor is tiny, having double the pixels and binning down is exactly the same as if it had bigger (less) pixels

[AmazingSeek]

the one thing I don't understand is why anyone would use 4.9x zoom when you have a 5x lens available. it seems like you're purposefuly trying to make the cameras look worse when realistically, people wouldn't use their phone camera that way

[GPPHOTOGRAPHYANDPRODUCTIONS]

Tony, you and your wife are the most genuine on YouTube. Thank you for helping educate so many. You my friend are a legend.

[chrlmlln]

Excellent and convincing presentation of the mega misleading 48MP camera results! Such a disappointing marketing trick! Again, I take my hat off for you Tony! Please keep up your very good work! (Btw, am still impressed by your first YouTube videos that I happen to recently re-watch! Excellent facts you generously share with us your many followers! Stay blessed you and your whole family and loved ones! Best regards from Sweden!) 💯👍🙏👌💖

[matt_kelly]

If Sony/Canon/etc. integrated half of the non-image related features from the iPhone (theft detection/encryption, backup, etc) that Tony mentioned, they would be a huge step ahead of the other companies. The better quality of a big camera just doesn't outweigh the convenience of having those types of features on my phone. Sure a pro would scoff at that idea, but most people aren't pros.

Just the other day I was telling the wife NOT to use the zoom on her iPhone, just click 0.5, 1, or 3 and move forwards or backwards until she gets the shots she wants - I got that advice from Tony! I'm happy with my 14 ProMax, except for the lightning connector. That is not worth upgrading over, so for the first time I think I won't upgrade and get a cheaper BYOD phone plan, thank you very much.

[casonbmx]

1) Duh.

2) I’ve compared the 15 camera with my 13 mini camera and there’s a noticeable difference. However, I am a full-time, self-employed portrait photographer and the difference is not pronounced. It’s subtle. Still, it is good enough to keep in my pocket for printing photos of special moments (not pro-level shots)—all without having to carry around a pro camera or a quality point and shoot.

3) Duh x2. It’s marketing to the chumps to a “niche” (i.e., humans who are not vocational photographers) that is the masses. In other words, it’s a very good point and shoot that has made incremental advances over the years (even from the 13 to the 15, as stated above). But…it’s marketing. Watch their 14 release…they lie, stating that the 14 Pro has stuff it’s never had before, when the 13 mini had the same stuff. But it’s also truth; the 14 Pro had never existed up to that point, so it really was the first time it had various features.

[ajk]

very confused now, other photographers saying it’s a great camera with sample pictures looks breathtaking.

[lovelymusicnow]

Thanks for the master class! Very profound! 6 mega pixels inside of a
48 mega pixel file format should be criminal

[thefourthquarter]

I've always used the Iphone as you've suggested - as three prime lenses that you never crop. The issue with the Iphone 15 Pro Max / Iphone 16 Pro's is there is too much gap between 1x and 5x. That means lots of zooming with your feet between 1x and 5x. That's fine if you realize the limitations. I agree that the 3x zoom is a more useful focal length. Good video.

[chinmaymishra]

Rather than comparing it to a full-frame camera, it would be better to compare the iPhone to other flagship phones such as those from Google or Samsung. Are they equally bad or is it just the iPhone?