iPhone 12 Pro Max: The New Mirrorless Camera?

Apple has just announced the new iPhone 12. This phone, among other things, is touted to be a photographer’s iPhone. The buzz is growing, with some people going as far as to say that the new iPhone 12 pro max will compete if not eliminate the need for DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras. Really!?

The new iPhone 12 is going to come in two flavors iPhone 12 pro and iPhone 12 pro max. Although they are the same in function, the more expensive iPhone 12 pro max camera is catching photographers’ attention. Let us go through the announced camera spec of this supposedly pro-level camera.

The iPhone camera is going to come with three lenses: wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto. The wide lens has a focal length of 26mm with a maximum aperture of F1.6. This a very fast lens and will be handy in low light situations. The ultra-wide lens has a focal length of 13mm, which indeed is a very wide lens. Unlike the wide lens, the wide ultra lens is not as fast, coming in at F2.4. Nevertheless, this aperture is still very decent for shooting in low light situations.

The final lens is a telephoto lens. The lens has a focal length of 52mm, which, in my opinion, should not be labeled as a telephoto lens. But I guess with 4x optical zoom and 12x digital zoom; an argument can be made that it is. The aperture is just as fast as the other two lenses at f2.2. Obviously, Apple is going for fast lenses; hence, the iPhone 12 max camera will be fantastic in low light situations based on these specs.

Here is what baffled me. Despite these advances made to the camera, the megapixel count remains at 13MP. I am not saying this is not good enough (click here to learn more about megapixel count). However, with the megapixel battle still raging on, I thought Apple would have bumped the megapixel count of its flagship phone camera. Maybe Apple is up to something here (pixel count/sensor size). But with its competitors such as Samsung introducing phones with more than 100-megapixel camera, Apple should have bumped the megapixel count to at least 20MP. By all means, this is not a deal-breaker; it’s just odd.

Back to our question, will this camera phone rival pro cameras? Honestly, a case can be made, but honestly, I think it won’t, at least not in the meantime. iPhone 12 pro max camera’s capabilities are impressive. Some of the features they have included can only be found in pro-level cameras. For example, the option to shoot in raw format (Apple has created its own raw file format – Apple ProRaw), image stabilization, and creating bokeh are some features that pro photographer love. In this regard, this Apple phone is a contender, but it’s not a replacement.

I think this camera phone, like most camera phones, is useful as a backup or when you do not have a digital camera. It can do the job, but I do not think it will replace pro cameras. The lens variety is not there, and the iPhone ergonomics are not geared to taking pictures for a long time. This reminds me of how point and shoot cameras were handy, but they never replace the bigger SLRs.

I must admit, though, that this is a trend to watch. Phone cameras are getting much better. They, nevertheless, are not at the level to replace pro cameras yet. It is a long road, but eventually, I think they will take over from DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras.

For full spec list click here