iPhone 14 rumored to catch up to Samsung with autofocus on the selfie camera
There are a lot of little ways that Apple is seen as “ahead” when it comes to software and hardware features, and in the same vein, there are ways that some see Android devices as having an edge. These kinds of features tend to even out over time, but according to a recent leak by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s next iPhones might catch up to Android phones like the Galaxy S22 series (and even the 2018-era Pixel 3) when it comes to one feature: the front-facing camera.
Screenshot ofMing-Chi Kuo’s tweet.
According to Kuo, iPhone 14 models expected later this year will feature autofocus on their front-facing cameras (which are rumored to move from the notch where they’ve lived for years to a new “hole-and-pill” cutout in the display). Until now, iPhones have used a fixed-focus system. Many Android phones going back several years have had autofocus on their front-facing selfie cameras, though it’s often a feature limited to more premium models. It’s not strictly a requirement for a high-quality selfie, but it does mean sharper images across a range of distances.
The current crop of Galaxy S22 phones, including theGalaxy S22 Ultrawith its 40MP front-facing camera,all have autofocus on their selfie cameras— PDAF for the S22 Ultra, “better” Dual Pixel AF for the S22 andGalaxy S22+— as do many other Galaxy S phones back to at least theGalaxy S10.
The difference between PDAF and Dual-Pixel AF. Imagevia Samsung.
Google’s Pixel 3 seriesalso had PDAF on one of its two front-facing cameras, though more recent Pixel models use a fixed-focus system. Some Huawei phones, like theP40 Pro, also have autofocus on their front-facing cameras, though the feature is hit-and-miss across Android brands and the market overall.
Kuo also claims that Apple plans to increase the size of the aperture for the front-facing camera, bumping it to f/1.9 from f/2.2 (a little shy of half a stop faster). This change increases the camera’s light-gathering ability and should mean improved low-light selfie performance. This may also result in a shallower depth of field in photos, which could make the inclusion of autofocus a simple requirement for good performance.
Autofocus also provides other interesting benefits in smartphone photography. The data gathered by phase-detection autofocus systems can also be used to map the depth of a scene for things like portrait mode effects, as Google highlighted in atechnical explanation for how the Pixel 2’s portrait mode effects work. A front-facing camera with autofocus could feed similar data to camera processing systems to further enhance the accuracy of selfie portrait mode effects, especially paired with a wider aperture that can create a stronger depth of field effect on its own.
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