The Apple iPhone XS has some hidden camera tricks under the hood – discover them

Apple claims that the iPhone XS Max offers better bokeh on portrait-mode photos, which means that the background blur is somehow improved and more aesthetically pleasing than before.

I could not see any noticeable improvement in capturing captured portrait images. However, I think that portrait mode is generally better than on previous phones. In the above images, the XS Max has been very successful in creating not only sharp contours around the flowers, but also blurring the background. Rather than simply creating a uniform blur, the camera has put more emphasis on the foreground.

I think portrait shots are more natural and realistic than in the past, but I'm not sure that the "beautiful bokeh" is the reason.

Portrait mode works better on humans than on objects

However, I have a caveat about the improvements in portrait mode: I found that the XS Max seemed to have a hard time capturing images of objects in portrait mode. I have tried different subjects (a rubber duck, a box of raisins) and I have been through a very difficult time.

It was more difficult for the camera to find the ideal point – it told me to go back, and when I did, it became immediately blurred – and the photos the was able to capture were not sharp and often had missing edges or strange cutouts.

This makes sense, as the portrait mode is for human faces and not for inanimate objects. And although Apple did not say anything specifically about the portrait mode on the XS, it at says that portrait mode will only work on the iPhone XR when you take a picture of a face. Seriously – the feature will not even be activated until the phone has detected a face.

And although the photos of the flowers are very successful, I seem to remember that portrait mode works a little better on the objects of a phone like the iPhone 8 Plus than today. .