THE iPhone XR is the first Apple smartphone equipped with only one camera on the back to bring the much celebrated Portrait Mode, able to highlight the object in the foreground in the photo and blur the background, creating an effect similar to that of DSLRs (known by the name bokeh).
Until then, the feature was only offered on models with two cameras because the difference in depth of field in the two lenses was an essential component to create the effect; in XR, magic is done entirely by software (and by “magic”, understand “something that Google has been doing for over a year”). As we just learned, however, this magic has its limitations on the Apple side.
The founder of TechPinions, Ben Bajarin, was experiencing the iPhone XR in a brief hands-on when you noticed that the device’s Portrait Mode works only with human beings. That’s right: unlike all other Apple devices with the feature, when trying to photograph a pet, object or anything other than a person, the effect simply won’t work on the XR.
Only knock I discovered on the iPhone Xr is that portrait mode only works on humans. This is due to how Apple implemented portrait mode using a single camera system.
Pixel 2 does portrait on any object using one lens.
Hopefully Apple makes sure customers understand this.
– Ben Bajarin (@BenBajarin) September 13, 2018
The only downside I found on the iPhone XR is that Portrait Mode only works on humans. This is explained by the way that Apple implemented the feature using a single camera system.
Pixel 2 portraits any object using only one lens.
I hope that Apple makes that very clear to consumers.
Regarding Bajarin’s last sentence, Apple does mention that the iPhone XR’s Portrait Mode works only with people – but in a somewhat cross-over way and perhaps not clear enough. As posted on the official smartphone page:
The iPhone XR uses the camera with only one lens and machine learning to maintain people sharp in the foreground and the background perfectly blurred.
There is no official Apple explanation for the limitation, but it certainly has to do with the way the software works to distinguish the main object in the photo from its background – Apple probably realized that the vast majority of images captured in Mode Healthy portraits of people and, with that, decided to “teach” the artificial intelligence of the device to recognize only human beings, saving resources and energy.
Still, there is a negative comparison with Google devices: Pixel 2 smartphones, also equipped with only one rear camera, offer Portrait Mode for any type of element in the foreground, not just people. Would it really be that hard for Apple to do something like that?
For now, here’s the reminder: if you want to take pictures of kittens with an unfocused background, you’ll have to spend at least $ 250 more. And life goes on …
tip from Lucas Flávio
