Every twelvemonth without fail , the new iPhone rescue one of the best cameras on any smartphone . essentially , any iPhone you corrupt — even the previous class ’s poser — will tear excellent photos and record videos in astral quality .
It ’s that consistency , along with the popularity of Macs amongphotoandvideoprofessionals , that makes the iPhone so popular among photographers and videographers ( record : How Oscar - gain ‘ Anora ’ director got his start shooting on an iPhone ) . Whether you ’re a pro or just an fancier , the iPhone that is best for photography is almost always the newest one — but that also tend to be the most expensive pick , so is that the model you should grease one’s palms ?
While the top of the rangeiPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Maxboth offer advanced cameras and impressive technologies that will result in professional - looking photo , the other iPhones still take first-class photos and are worthy of consideration .
*Handsets that are no longer sold by Apple are shown in italics, you may still be able to buy one of these models.
We will run through the current iPhones that Apple is selling now to send word on the good iPhone for photography that fits within your budget .
iPhone Cameras overview
We ’ll lead off with an overview of the camera specs for the current iPhone poser , before break away through what ’s new and what ’s the same on the current iPhones . Then we ’ll await in more detail at the camera lineament that Apple has introduced over the years .
Best iPhone Camera
The best iPhone camera is always extend to be the one in the top of the reach iPhone for each twelvemonth , so right now the better iPhone tv camera is the one in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max . That was n’t always the case : in the past the Pro Max model has offered a better camera than that in the Pro fashion model – for representative the iPhone 15 Pro Max had a 5x zoom that that iPhone 15 Pro did n’t . presently though , there is no difference , other than how the iPhone feel in your mitt .
1. Apple iPhone 16 Pro – Best iPhone for photography
As with all Pro and Pro Max iPhones , the current genesis offers three cameras on the rear , a master camera , ultra wide and telephoto . This time the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max have identical photographic camera systems that improve upon the iPhone 15 Pro Max with an raise 48MP ultra wide of the mark camera , join the 48MP main camera , but the real melioration descend from the addition of a new Camera Control button and improved software system .
The Camera Control button , which also features on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus , can open your camera app ( even third - party apps ) , act like a shutter push button , and be bug and purloin to adjust image controls like exposure or zoom .
The second - generation Photographic Styles are a big betterment over the previous version of the feature film , giving you more creative mastery over how your exposure and video recording face . This feature is also shared with the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus .
feature unequalled to the 16 Pro and Pro Max include Night Mode Portraits and 48MP macro picture taking . ONly professional and Pro Max iPhones can fool away in ProRAW .
If you ’re into video , you ’ll treasure the improved microphones , higher 120fps 4 cat valium frame rate , and AI - power audio recording mix feature that lets you quickly produce television that sound great .
2. Apple iPhone 16
The regular iPhone 16 miss the telephoto camera and can only soar upwards to 2x , but the photographic disruption between the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro is n’t as large as it has been in the past tense .
Sure , it does n’t pip in ProRES TV , but it can soar in to a 2x optical look-alike using the main camera ’s 48 megapixel sensing element . It supports the Modern Photographic Styles , has the Camera Control button , and now take macro exposure ( albeit not at 48MP ) and video recording and spacial video too ( though the latter is n’t much use if you do n’t have a Vision Pro ) .
Between the Camera Control clit , features like Audio Mix , and the unexampled photographic styles , we ’d take the even iPhone 16 over the iPhone 15 Pro if you happened to find the older phone on cut-rate sale .
*Handsets that are no longer sold by Apple are shown in italics, you may still be able to buy one of these models.
3. Apple iPhone 16e
The iPhone 16e , Modern in February 2025 , offers just the one camera on the ass , so if you really want to take ultra wide picture you credibly want to wait elsewhere , but in many ways this is a decent camera phone .
The iPhone 16e might have interchange the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 , but the camera is leaps ahead of those in the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 . We ’re talking a 48MP , ƒ/1.6 aperture in the iPhone 16e compared to a 12MP , ƒ/1.8 aperture in the iPhone SE and 12MP , ƒ/1.5 aperture in the iPhone 14 . Of course , the iPhone 14 also had an ultra broad camera .
The iPhone 14 and SE are no longer on sale . In comparing to iPhones that are on sales event : namely the iPhone 16 and 15 , the iPhone 16e shares the 48MP , ƒ/1.6 aperture main camera , and the photographic software program lineament . What it lack is the macro picture taking and Camera Control push button of the iPhone 16 , and the 0.5x zoom and improved sensor - shift optical image stabilisation of both . Next - genesis portraiture with Focus and Depth Control , action mechanism mode , and Cinematic mode for recording video , are also only usable in the 15 and 16 .
4. Apple iPhone 15
If you do n’t need all the bells and whistles of the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 still sounds a little bit expensive to you , the iPhone 15 is still a great option if you are looking for a iPhone that can offer radical wide picture taking .
iPhone 15 has a threefold - camera array with a wide - slant and ultra - wide camera . It was the first generation to offer up 48MP with Apple ’s quad - pixel sensing element and 100 percent Focus Pixels for fast autofocus .
The iPhone 15 can take 2X telephoto shots despite not having a dedicated telephoto lens . If you are n’t keen on the Camera Control button on the new iPhones , this could be a good choice .
One disadvantage of the iPhone 15 is that it does n’t support Apple Intelligence . It is possible that Apple will introduce picture taking link up feature that use Apple Intelligence in the future , and if it does this iPhone may not support them .
How the iPhone cameras compare
Every year , with each new iPhone , Apple improves the camera and video features of its iPhones .
With the iPhone 16 line , the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max have the same camera ironware , while the iPhone 15 Pro model that launched a year to begin with in 2023 ( since discontinue ) had different telephoto camera . The Pro model specialize themselves from the non - Pro model with the third camera – telephoto – and a sharper 48 megapixel ultra - broad television camera .
Looking at the specs weather sheet you would n’t think the iPhone 16 offer up an improvement over the iPhone 15 , but its Ultra Wide photographic camera now tolerate macro photography .
The iPhone 16e only offers the single 48MP Fusion lens on the posterior , which likens it to the discontinued iPhone SE , but the 2 - in-1 camera system in the iPhone 16e is much good than the 12MP single - television camera system in the iPhone SE . The undivided television camera on the rear of the iPhone 16e is also better than the 12MP master camera of the discontinued iPhone 14 . The via media with the iPhone 16e come down to whether or not you want the radical panoptic lens or the macro photography offer by the iPhone 16 and above . Those tv camera can also shoot spatial pic and video for theVision Pro , too , but we do n’t think that is something a iPhone 16e user will really miss .
“ Hidden Gem ” ( water bead in leaf ) by Jirasak Panpiansin ( @joez19 ) . Macro photograph , shot on iPhone 13 Pro Max .
orchard apple tree
“Hidden Gem” (water bead in leaf) by Jirasak Panpiansin (@joez19). Macro photograph, shot on iPhone 13 Pro Max.
The apertures are also a variation across iPhones , exchange with much every multiplication as Apple tries to design an iPhone capable of even better low-toned - light photography . The iPhone 16 , 16 Plus , 16e and iPhone 15 and 15 Plus all declare oneself a ƒ/1.6 aperture on the main camera , while the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max offer an ƒ/1.78 aperture on the chief tv camera .
Another difference is that the iPhone 16 and Plus ( and 15 and 15 Plus ) declare oneself sensor - shift ocular double stabilization , the iPhone 16e proffer just optical image stabilization , and the 16 Pro and Max offer superior 2nd - generation sensor - shift optical ikon stabilisation .
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max ploughshare a 5x rapid climb ( which first appeared in the iPhone 15 Pro Max ) . This makes a huge difference in telephoto gibe . The iPhone 16 , Plus and 16e can up to 2x and the 48 megabyte camera help achieve this .
Photo gallery: Photo comparisons
Below are a selection of photos taken with the iPhones mentioned above .
iPhone 16 Pro
The 16 Pro is as great in bright outdoor scenarios as it if on grey , dreary twenty-four hour period . Low - unaccented barb look realistic and interference is kept to a lower limit . The iPhone 16 Pro took some of our best close - up shots ever .
iPhone 16
Below are a extract of picture taken with the iPhone 16 .
The iPhone 16 gives a well - rounded mix of detail , colour and photograph .
What features do iPhone cameras have?
The iPhones 16 , 16 Plus , 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max share a newCamera Controlbutton . rap once lightly for Camera Control functions ( zoom by default ) and adjust by filch back and forthordragging the control on the video display . you’re able to also double - tap gently for a list of different functions that can be set in this way : exposure , depth , camera selection , photographic styles , or tone . It does a pile — and it ’s not always obvious what to press to do something .
Foundry
All iPhones can take good photograph thanks to Apple ’s innovations in photography software and the processing that runs in the background signal . ThePhotonic Engine(which arrived with the iPhone 14 range ) is a computational photography technology that can make low - light photos look better , among other thing .
The Photonic Engine builds on theDeep Fusionsoftware , which arrived with the iPhone 11 . The Deep Fusion process involves the tv camera taking multiple shots with different exposure and commingle them using AI to make better image that the tiny sensor in a smartphone would otherwise be subject of .
Photographic Stylesarrived with the iPhone 13 . These are preset styles that are applied when you take a photograph , rather than adding a filter after the photo is take . The welfare is that adjustments are applied to the right elements of an figure — keep tegument musical note , etc — rather than to the whole image . The five presets are Standard , Rich Contrast , Vibrant , Warm and Cool and you could adjust Tone and Warmth for each . If you find a Photographic Styles you are glad with you could set it so your iPhone always practice it , saving you edit time later . you may of path edit out your exposure later using the filters in the Photos app . The iPhone 16e and iPhone 15 range offer Photographic Styles .
New to the iPhone 16 business line aresecond - generation Photographic Styles , which offer greater control over color and tone mapping with an easier interface . They can also be applied non - destructively after the shot is take , and even switch , while the first Photographic Styles had to be applied as you use up the photo . It ’s a really big deal — proper software of the novel Photographic Styles can allow you to produce iPhone jibe let look a small more natural , contrast - atomic number 39 , and less over - saturated .
Photographic Styles can be used to give your photos an artistic twist .
With every generation , Apple seeks to improve low - light photography . This is no more apparent than in the automaticNight Modesettings that arrived in the iPhone 11 and have improved over the generations since . ANight Mode Portraitsetting go far with the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max , and is useable in all Pro model since .
utter of portraits , Portrait Modeand aPortrait Lightingfeature reserve you to pick out effect to ‘ light ’ your portrait . you could adjust the depth of arena for these portraits to make more or less background fuzz . Anext - multiplication portrait with Focus and Depth Controlwas introduced with the iPhone 15 range , and features in the iPhone 16 reach with the exception of the iPhone 16e , which offersPortrait Mode with Depth Control .
The Portrait Mode also inspiresCinematic Modefor making videos on the iPhone . With this setting the camera can record TV with a shallow depth of field , so that there is more direction on the subject . Cinematic Mode is available on the iPhone 13 - serial publication and later , but is pretermit from the iPhone 16e .
Another fun video musical mode isAction Mode . A feature that get with the iPhone 14 - series , Action Mode lets you capture smooth picture when you ’re impress . This is another feature missing from the iPhone 16e .
Smart HDRhas been around since the iPhone XS and XR in 2018 , but , since the fifteenth - generation iPhone , it ’s now Smart HDR 5 .
Those are some of the standout features that have arrive in recent years , but there is so much more . For example , Live Photoslet you take 3 - second capture with each picture so you could pick the still image you want , make a Gif - like effect , or just keep the short magazine . you could make aQuickTake videoby holding the shutter push button on the iPhone XS , iPhone XR , and afterwards . And , of track , every iPhone can burgeon forth time - laps and slo - bit videos as well as square , Portrait , and pano photographs .
Are iPhones good for video?
All iPhones presently sold offer 4 K Dolby Vision video recording at 24 fps , 25 Federal Protective Service , 30 Federal Protective Service or 60 fps , 1080p Dolby Vision video recording at 25 fps , 30 fps or 60 fps and Slo - Missouri video living for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 Federal Protective Service . novel to the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max is 4 K Dolby Vision video at up to 120fps . Only the iPhone 16 Pro and Max offer 100 fps and 120 fps 4 K video recording and ProRes television recording at 120 fps in 4 K and 4 KB slow - mo video .
The differences relate to feature of speech like Cinematic mode on the iPhone 13 and 14 - series ( but on only in 4 K HDR on the iPhone 14 - series and up ) , ProRes and Macro video transcription ( only available on the Pro and Max iPhones , and HDR video transcription , which is not available on the iPhone SE .
The video transcription feature of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are ranking to the former genesis , with the addition of Log video recording and the Academy Color Encoding System . ProRes video transcription up to 4 K at 120 fps with external recording equipment for these mannequin too .
All current iPhones offer Audio Zoom and Wind randomness simplification , which can serve reduce background interference when record . Only the iPhone 16 Pro and Max offer a studio - quality four - mic raiment .
Features like Action Mode and Cinematic fashion , mentioned above , will no doubt prove useful to anyone make video with an iPhone .
Further reading :
iPhone camera tips to take upright exposure
How to stop the television camera shutter go on an iPhone or iPad
How to remotely ensure your iPhone ’s photographic camera
Some of the Camera Control functions are very useful, others are sort of finicky.
Photographic Styles can be used to give your photos an artistic twist.
