iPhone 13 Boasts New Camera Tricks Including Cinematic Video

The rumours were true. Apple’s latest flagship smartphone has a design that is largely similar to last years phones, including the shape, size and styling. Despite the phone looking the same, substantial improvements have been made to the camera(s), with the tech giant announcing several new features that will produce better still photographs and videos.

The first is a new “cinematic mode” for video that replicates the rack focus effect commonly seen in movies. The iPhone 13 smoothly transitions between forefront and background focus based on what is occurring in the frame. The system is intelligent enough to change focus when a subject looks away from the phone. You can also manually tap to change or lock focus on your preferred subject.

On all iPhone 13 models, a depth map is built into the cinematic mode video file, giving you the option of changing the focus point after the fact. For the iPhone 13 Pro, Apple is introducing a macro photography feature that can focus on subjects as close as two centimetres away from the lens.

The 13 Pro is also gaining new “photographic styles” that apply different adjustments across scenes and subject types, letting you set your favorite visual effects and maintain them across your future shots. Understandably, Apple wants to remain, and even re-establish its position as the smartphone that can be quirky, yet superbly efficient when it comes to photography and cinematography.