Apple Announces iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus

EDIT:

Thanks for the replies, I see now that they're talking about pixel binning.

But doesn't the iPhone 13 sensor also have sensor "sub-pixels" that it's grouping into effective pixels to get a 12 MP camera?

i.e. does the iPhone 14 do something different with the data coming from the sensor, or is the sensor different (for example, it allows some sub-pixel control that the iPhone 13 sensor does not)? Apple says the sensor (area I suppose) is 65% larger, but that's not enough to account for this 4x'ing.

Thanks!

---

I might be totally wrong, but could the 48 MP not be... real megapixels of any one camera or sensor, but a software fusion of the 3 cameras' sensors? Is that possible?

There's language on the iPhone page that makes me think this -- "So the new sensor groups four pixels together into one large quad pixel, gathering 4x more light and producing spectacularly better photos at the practical 12MP size"

What does "at the practical 12MP size" mean? Which "four pixels"? Where are the pixels captured/coming from?

There's also "For the ultimate combination of detail and flexibility, shoot in ProRAW at 48MP resolution. A new machine learning model delivers sharper images and less noise for unprecedented detail."

How much is the 48 MP a mix of sensor fusion (which could be purely software, or running on a chip, but still, post-sensor) and AI versus an actual 48 MP sensor?

---

I have similar feelings about the crash detection (accelerometer-based) and even the satellite (5G-based?) capability. Are these features just... rebranded existing things // new software features?

Yup, smaller carriers in Europe don't offer eSIM for their prepay options, which are super useful (a couple of bucks to get a ton of data with EU roaming as well).

It's not like lightning cables have an infinite lifespan though. And they won't actually be sent into the ocean

Right, that's a Bayer arrangement. But... previous (iPhone 13) sensors also presumably have a similar Bayer arrangements and also group the sensor's pixels (which we could call "sub-pixels") into "effective pixels", right?

So what's different here? Are there truly 4 times more sub-pixels? Or is this a new algorithm to interpret the sub-pixels data...? But the sensor is the same as the previous generation?

Camera sensor specs got a significant bump if you're looking at the 14 Pro. The 13 is a 12MP sensor, the 14 Pro is a 48MP sensor.

Comparing the base 13 and 14 the only real hardware difference is that the selfie camera picked up autofocus and has an aperture change. There's a very minor aperture change to the main camera lens, but I'm not sure whether it's significant.

Again with the 14 Pro, the always on display is a definite change. Probably depends on your own usage patterns whether it'd actually make a practical difference for you.

Apple's comparison tool is actually pretty useful for this stuff: https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone13,iph...