Portrait mode wowed us when it debuted with the iPhone 7 Plus, back in 2016. Thanks to its two lenses (remember when the iPhone had a single camera?), the iPhone 7 Plus could detect 9 levels of depth, then apply blur to some of the layers to create A photo that looks like it was taken with a DSLR camera. After eight full generations of iPhones, portrait mode has gotten a facelift.
On the iPhone 15, the Camera app can use machine learning to determine if there’s a person in the frame, then automatically switch to portrait mode. This feature also recognizes pets, and we know that people like to take a ton of photos of their pets.
After you take a photo in portrait mode, you can switch the person or pet that will be the focus of the photo. This is new to the iPhone 15, but since the early days of Portrait Mode, I’ve been able to turn off Portrait Mode after taking a photo, and return it to its original form.
Apple also announced updates to Night mode, which helps users take photos in low-light environments.
The new iPhone 15 sports lens with an af/1.6 aperture, a 2x zoom option, and a 24-megapixel capacity. We’ll have more on the nitty-gritty of these camera specs soon.