iPhone Diary

It’s a common claim that each year’s new iPhones are much the same as the previous models, and there’s of course some degree of truth to this.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman went as far as arguing in his latest newsletter that Apple’s pace of development with iPhones is such that we only see something truly new every five years …

I said before the keynote that I expected to be ordering an iPhone 16 Pro Max, and that was going to be largely down to the functionality of the Camera Control button. This turned out to be an even stronger draw than I’d expected.

Despite the button itself inevitably leaking beforehand, Apple did manage to keep a lot of its functionality secret …

While Apple headlined its keynote with the new Apple Intelligence features coming later to the new iPhone 16 line-up, there was also big news on the camera front.

This included good news for those who tend to buy the standard or Plus models over the Pro and Pro Max, as a lot of the photographic goodies come to all four models …

I didn’t always upgrade my iPhone every year. That process started with the iPhone X, but it has continued since then, and it’s generally been the camera features which have parted me from my money.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max doesn’t seem like it will quite have a single killer feature for me, but it does appear that it would only take two rumored new features for Apple to ring up a sale …

One of the expected features of the iPhone 16 is a dedicated Capture button for photos and videos. CAD drawings and dummy models suggest all four models will get the button.

That might not sound like too big a deal, especially for those who own an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, that already has an Action button configurable to activate the camera. However, if it works as we’re expecting, then it could turn out to be the main feature which persuades me to upgrade from my 15 Pro Max …

Back in 2021, I talked about just how much the iPhone 13 video stabilisation impressed me.

For casual usage, the in-camera stabilization is nothing short of miraculous. Would I use it for anything more serious, like short films? I’d still prefer the 100% stability of a tripod for locked-off shots, but it’s honestly very close to the point at which I’d be willing to use it, and I might well do so for panning and tilting movements, which look almost as smooth as tripod-mounted shots.

One year and one iPhone generation later, that was still the case …

Whenever an iPhone comes with a new feature, it’s not always obvious ahead of time how useful it will turn out to be. In the case of my iPhone 15 Pro Max, the 5x camera has been great for one specific purpose, but my favorite feature by far is the Action button.

To me, it’s one of those small things which makes a worthwhile difference in everyday use – though it has required me to get used to holding my iPhone ‘upside down’ …

Usually when I get a new iPhone, you can expect two or three iPhone diary pieces from me, reporting my experiences of the photo and video capabilities of the new model. Sure enough, one piece followed quickly – testing the 5x telephoto lens for portraits.

I’d expected to quickly follow up with another piece on using the same lens for cityscape photos. Only … it hasn’t actually proven very useful for these …

A busy time meant that my first test of the new 5x telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max was nothing more than a quick 3x versus 5x comparison shot from my apartment as part of a first impressions piece.

Yesterday, I got the chance to see how useful the new lens is for portraits – from the purely optical bokeh seen above, to testing iOS 17’s newfound ability to automatically add depth data, letting you adjust focus after taking the photo …

I may have just taken delivery of my shiny new iPhone 15 Pro Max, but I do get to write one last diary post about its predecessor, before it gets unceremoniously packaged up to be sent back to Apple.

Not content with one time-consuming hobby – Argentine tango – I attempted to add another: amateur filmmaking. The latter didn’t get too far, as it struggled to compete for my time and attention (I’ve so far managed just two micro-shorts, totaling all of three-and-a-half minutes), but I did get to combine the two in one project …

When I say first impressions of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I mean just that: I’ve owned the phone for a couple of hours, and so far done nothing other than set it up, play with it a little, and test the new 5x telephoto camera.

I do have to say that the delivery and setup experience wasn’t quite as smooth as it could have been …

Yep, I’m now a fully paid-up member of the Annual iPhone Upgrade Club. As of the iPhone X, I’ve upgraded every year to the iPhone 11, 12, 13, and 14. 

As usual, it’s the camera improvements that sold me on the new model – even though I’m fairly sure I’ll never actually use two of the biggest new features …

I’ve been using the iOS 17 developer beta for a few weeks now, and been meaning to write a roundup of the features I’ve found most useful. I will get around to that, but there’s one which stands out to me – and that’s StandBy.

Apple’s primary intention with this right now is to turn the iPhone into a handy nightstand clock, but this isn’t the only way to use it …

There’s always been a significant difference in the low-light video and photo performance on iPhones. But a recent holiday really highlighted for me how dramatic that difference has become, especially when it comes to the telephoto lens on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

So much so that I would argue that low-light video performance really needs to be Apple’s next priority when it comes to the iPhone’s photographic capabilities …