Apple just announced the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. They’re upgrades to last year’s iPhone XS and XS Max phones, respectively, but with a new camera system that upgrades the old sensors and adds a third, ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree depth of field.
From the outside, the phones look and feel slightly better than the iPhone XS, though quite a lot of that is the matte finish on the back, which I really prefer (though sometimes matte glass can be more slippy than glossy). Apple says the glass is more durable, and I really do like how it is one piece, with no seam on the camera bump.
So let’s talk about the camera bump: it’s big. But Apple has designed the lenses on it in such a way that it isn’t trying to hide the giant square on the back. I don’t love it, but everybody uses a case anyway, so that will help.
I did play with the new camera interface a bit, and it’s great. When you’re in the standard “wide” zoom, the viewfinder fills the whole screen, so you can more easily see what mode you’re in. And if you slide through the wide and telephoto lenses instead of tapping, it shows you a dial with your zoom level in both multiples and millimeters.
Read More:Apple iPhone 11 Plus,iPhone XL Max Unboxing Features
Even if the forthcoming Pixel 4 is able to match or beat Apple on photo quality here, it might not be able to beat it on speed. If you’d like to see a slo-mo “slofie,” here’s Nilay:
Alright you monsters here’s a slofie @ashleyrcarman pic.twitter.com/Xpv2j6eBuP
— nilay patel (@reckless) September 10, 2019
ust like the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro and its bigger cousin the iPhone 11 Pro Max have a new, additional camera focused on wide-angle shots. Keep reading for hands-on impressions with that feature. The new camera array draws the eye, and I expect it will be divisive. That said, the camera bump is small-ish, and I feel that it looks a bit less odd than the iPhone 11’s array. The three neatly ordered cameras look natural, but the two lenses loaded on one side of a square bump looks strange on the 11.
The other major improvement, aside from improved video and photo performance, is in battery life. Efficiency seems to be where Apple put its emphasis with the A13, and the company claims the iPhone 11 Pro will get four hours more typical battery life than the XS, and the 11 Pro Max will see five hours more than the XS Max. That’s dramatic, and we’re looking forward to putting the phone to the test in our review. Apple also says it will bundle a more potent charging brick with the new iPhones, which is long overdue.