AS an avid photographer who relies a lot on camera capability when out shooting, I pay a lot of attention to details of the subjects I shot, be it during the day or at night.
And that's one of the reasons I still carry cameras when I go "hunt" for photos during my free time and weekends.
I do macro photography, as well as other genres like low light, portrait and landscape.
These genres require cameras that have high megapixels, good low-light performance, noise control, and lens sharpness as well as stabilisation control.
So when I got to test out the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, I was eager to fnd out how these two higher end models of the iPhone 14 series perform.
So I took them out to various places, day and night, to test their capabilities.
When Apple announced the iPhone 14, what caught my attention was the new enhancement it made to the camera features. For the first time, the company decided to boost its image sensor to 48MP for its main camera on iPhone featuring a quad-pixel sensor, and Photonic Engine, an enhanced image pipeline that dramatically improves low-light photos.
With that much pixel count, I bet images would be more detailed, what more with the phones' capability to shoot in ProRAW format and ProRES for videos.
Not just that, coupled with a new more powerful A16 Bionic chip and the feature-packed iOS 16, the phones get better in many ways.
Another feature which I find useful is that Apple has added the 2X optical zoom to the Pro series, which gives a faster optical zoom option to users.
Camera features
Okay, let's look at the number one feature people will look at when buying the iPhone, its cameras.
Design wise, Apple still maintains styling for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, which looks almost similar to the models since iPhone 11, with the three back cameras. However, if you look carefully at the lenses, you'll notice the lenses have gotten bigger, which I believe is due to the bigger f1.78 aperture capability.
The camera features a quad-pixel sensor that adapts to the photo being captured, and features second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilisation. For most photos, the quad-pixel sensor combines every four pixels into one large quad pixel equivalent to 2.44 μm, resulting in amazing low-light capture and keeping photo size at a practical 12MP. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom. This delivers optical quality at a familiar focal length, which is great for features like Portrait mode. The quad-pixel sensor also brings benefits to pro workflows, optimising for detail in ProRAW. And with a new machine learning model designed specifically for the quad-pixel sensor, iPhone now shoots ProRAW at 48MP with an unprecedented level of detail, enabling new creative workflows for pro users.
Besides that, the phones now feature a new 12MP Ultra Wide camera with 1.4 μm pixels, improved Telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, a TrueDepth camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture, a new Adaptive True Tone flash, computational photography technologies like Night mode, Smart HDR 4, Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting, Night mode Portrait photos, Photographic Styles to personalise the look of every photo, and Apple ProRAW.
For those who like to take videos, a new Action mode offers smooth-looking video that adjusts to significant shakes, motion, and vibrations, even when video is being captured in the middle of the action, and the Cinematic mode is now available in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 24 fps.
The experiment
I tested the phones' camera capabilities in various conditions and photography genres.
The macro mode, for example, works great, with the ability to give very detailed images of the subjects taken, and taking macro with the Phone is simple, as you just need to bring your phone closer, like a few inches, towards the subject as the les will automatically change to macro mode. You can actually see the lens mode changes to macro.
For this I focused on shooting flowers and fruits.
The images produced in the macro mode are detailed enough and correctly exposed. However, I find the bokeh (areas not in focus) from the macro mode not so smooth, if I were to compare it with dedicated macro lenses for cameras.
Next I took the phones to the Bukit Bintang area as well as the streets of Bangkok to see how they perform at night, under low light conditions.
It was drizzling when I tested the phones in Bukit Bintang but I wasn't worried as they have IP68 ratings, which means they can withstand dust and water for up to 30 mins with a maximum depth of 6 metres.
I also tested the cameras by taking night shots of tree branches
The images at night produced by the phones are remarkably great. Thanks to the image stabilisation in place with the help of Photonic Engine and Smart HDR 4, I managed to get photos that would otherwise be difficult to get.
However, when taking photos at night, just make sure that your hands are stable as the phone may need a few seconds to process the image after you clicked the "shutter", or else just use a small phone tripod.
I also tried to shoot in ProRAW for the night scene, and managed to get sharp, detailed images. The low-light images look clean, but if you blow them up, you can still see some noises. This is unavoidable, given the small image sensor used by all smartphones in general compared to cameras like dSLR and mirrorless which have much bigger image sensors and high ISO capability.
Perhaps one day, if Apple or other smartphone makers are able to put at les a crop sensor into their phones, that would be a real deal breaker.
The portrait mode has also improved tremendously in these new models of Phones. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom. This delivers optical quality at a familiar focal length, which is great for features like Portrait mode.
Video capability
For those who love to take videos, especially the sporty kinds, will appreciate the new Action mode feature, which can be activated by tapping the top left image on a person running in the video mode. There difference between the normal video compared to the one with the Action Mode on can be seen, although not that much.
However, the low light video results are pretty awesome with clean footage. I tested this in Bangkok at the Siam Square lane and found the videos produced clean and clear.
The phone features
Both the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have the same features, and the main thing that differentiate them is the screen size, which are 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch respectively.
Both models include a new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion that features the Always-on display for the first time on iPhone, enabled by a new 1Hz refresh rate and multiple power-efficient technologies.
To me this is a love-hate feature as I sometimes find the always on feature a distraction especially at night when I'm trying to close my eyes in bed.
Also, Apple has removed the notch in the Pro series this time and replaced it with the flexible pill-like feature called Dynamic Island.
This enables new ways to interact with the iPhone, featuring a design that blends the line between hardware and software, adapting in real time to show important alerts, notifications, and activities.
The Dynamic Island area is able to change size and shape to accommodate various types of alerts, notifications, and interactions, turning it into a kind of front-and-center information hub.
Besides showing the unlocking of your phone, the Dynamic Island
With the introduction of the Dynamic Island, the TrueDepth camera has been redesigned to take up less of the display area. With this new feature, you can see information like AirDrop file transfers, Apple Pay transactions, phone charging status, Face ID unlocking, Airplane mode, low battery status, and many more.
Crash detection
I guess, the new crash detection feature in the iPhone 14 (all models) can't be tested purposely as you need to be in the real "crash" situation, which no one would want to be in.
It's a great feature to have and it's the first of its kind, if I'm not mistaken. What the phone has in it is a dual-core accelerometer capable of detecting G-force measurements of up to 256Gs and a new high dynamic range gyroscope. This enables the phone to detect a severe car crash and automatically dial emergency services when a user is unconscious or unable to reach their iPhone. For Malaysia's case, the phone will automatically call 999 should it detect a crash and send its location.
Conclusion
Both the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have new interesting features such as a higher 48MP main camera sensor, Dynamic Island, Action mode for video as well as crash detection which are great for enhancing daily tasks.
If you're looking at higher pixel counts for your photos or want faster processing speed and the fancy Dynamic feature as well as crash detection, these models are for you.
The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are priced from RM5,299 and RM5,799 respectively.
Verdict: 4.5/5
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