How the iPhone 11 will reinvent the camera phone

If you believe the avalanche of iPhone 11 rumors, Apple's new phones will be faster and offer reverse charging like the last Galaxy Note 10 and at least two of the models should wear shock-resistant models when they start a September 10 press event. But none of these small upgrades will matter unless Tim Cook & Company has significantly improved what matters most in today's smartphone war: the camera.

And the camera of the iPhone 11 can not be better than before. He literally needs wow.

Will Apple see the light with the iPhone 11?

Presumably, the quality of the image will generally improve on the three new models expected from the iPhone 11, and Apple would apparently offer better low-light performance with its new cameras. This is essential, given Google's progress with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a, Samsung with the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 line and Huawei with is P30 Pro.

Compared to these phones, Apple phones face low light and better optics combined with smarter software can help the iPhone 11 catch up. But the expected improvements like this will not drive consumer enthusiasm, not when a recent study of Ting Mobile shows that smartphone owners have hooked up their devices for 3 to 5 years.

"That's the real question: Will this new iPhone make you buy now instead of waiting a year or keeping your iPhone longer?" Said Avi Greengart, chief analyst at Techsponential.

Make three lenses differently

To generate buzz, Apple would offer three rear cameras on the so-called iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, which should replace the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Bloomberg Apple has added a very wide-angle lens, which has already been done, but the iPhone 11 Pro would go further than the competition by taking a picture at a time with its three goals. Better yet, the AI ​​would automatically correct the photo if, for example, someone was cut off.

"I think Apple needs to do something that catches the eye," said Ben Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies. "It does not have to be innovative, but they obviously want to do something that catches the eye of the consumer and can spark their enthusiasm."

MORE: iPhone 11: all the latest news and rumors

According to another rumor, Apple would achieve great progress in the video with the iPhone 11, thanks to its purchase of October 2018 spektral. This acquisition has allowed Apple to access technology that would allow iPhone 11 users to delete and optionally automatically replace video backgrounds in real time. Spektral says that he could analyze a video at 60 frames per second using machine learning and computer vision.

According to rumors, Apple's new A13 processor could be decisive. It will not be enough for Apple to say that its phone is the fastest in the world, again. It will have to show what users can do with this extra punch.

"It's going to be visual. They must show that rubber meets the road with something of intense calculation, which has to do with vision, video, visual computation, "said Bajarin.

Push the video envelope (and make the iPhone 11 viral)

Whatever Apple does with its cameras, it will be critical that the company does not introduce a steep learning curve for users. One could say, for example, that it was not intuitive to access Animoji when these made their debut on the iPhone X. And although the Galaxy Note 10 offers a multitude of modes, including new fun Live Focus effects for video, you can perform many sweeps to find the right mode when shooting.

"It's not just about how Apple implements the software around these new features, but also how easy it is to use," Greengart said. "Some phones offer all kinds of features that ordinary people simply do not use. And Apple has a long history of making extremely complicated things accessible. "

To be clear, Google is already well ahead of everyone in digital photography. That's why he can do things like Night view with the Pixel 3 and fool you into believing that its cameras have an optical zoom when they do not. The iPhone 11 must leap forward, especially since you know that Google will try to recover as the king of the camera phone when the Pixel 4 debuted in October.

MORE: The Night Sight camera of Pixel 3 is downright magical

Whatever Apple does with the iPhone 11 and photography, it will help a lot if the new features introduced have a viral quality that encourages people to share their images. And Apple must go beyond still photos to appeal to a younger audience.

"Let's hope that Apple achieves something we have not thought of, or a kind of feature that really enthuses us for digital photography, and that it's built into the video," Bajarin said. "It's great for the influencers community because they'll post on Instagram."

Perspective

Ultimately, Apple has to prove something with the iPhone 11: its camera is so powerful and so unique that future installers have the impression to miss the race if they do not take the train on. We will see on September 10 how Apple's reinvention of the camera is becoming a priority.