User compares camera quality on iPhones 13, 14, 15 and 16 Pro

One of the big reasons for buying an iPhone, according to its own users, is that the device’s camera is one of the best (if not the best) among cell phones. And her own Apple makes a point of highlighting this in its advertising pieces and in the promotion of its smartphones.

Well, an Instagram profile decided to do a test with the 4 most recent iPhone models, all of the Pro variant. He placed the models side by side iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro e iPhone 16 Pro to test the devices’ cameras.

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The 4 devices were fixed to a support which, in turn, was fixed to a tripod. Thus, the 4 cell phones filmed exactly the same scene and at the same time, making the comparison fairer. The scene captured was a street lit up at night, with cars passing by and buildings with lights on in the background. Check the result for yourself:

Comparative analysis

At first glance, the quality of the footage appears almost identical, but a closer look reveals interesting nuances.

During testing, the scene captured at night showed subtle variations between each generation. The iPhone 13 Pro footage, surprisingly, was of slightly higher quality in terms of clarity and noise reduction. This can be attributed to the effective Sensor-shift OIS stabilization and software optimization which, at the time, was very well calibrated for low light conditions.

On the iPhone 14 Pro, improvements in image processing made the video a little brighter, but there was no drastic difference compared to the iPhone 13 Pro. On the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro, the video quality is practically the same, both in color saturation, white balance and brightness level of the footage. This raises the question about the need for such frequent annual upgrades.

Technical specifications of each camera

The iPhone 13 Pro features a triple camera system, including a 12MP wide-angle lens with f/1.5 aperture, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens with f/1.8 aperture, and a 12MP telephoto lens with f/2.8 aperture. Sensor-shift optical image stabilization (Sensor-shift OIS) and Cinematic mode are some of the highlights that improve video quality, especially in low-light conditions.

With the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple has made some improvements. The main camera is 48 MP and has an aperture of f/1.78. The ultra-wide angle lens maintains 12 MP, but interestingly reduces the aperture to f/2.2, and the 2x telephoto lens with a 48 mm lens gains an aperture of f/1.78. The significant addition here was the introduction of the Photonic Engine, which improves image processing in low-light conditions, resulting in clearer, more detailed videos.

The iPhone 15 Pro maintained the 48 MP main sensor, with a 24 mm lens and f/1.78 aperture, that is, the same as the previous model. The ultra-wide-angle and telephoto lenses maintain 12 MP specifications, with apertures of f/2.2 and f/1.78, respectively. The use of the A16 Bionic chip also contributes to faster and more efficient image processing, improving overall video quality.

Finally, the newly launched iPhone 16 Pro The trend of specific improvements continues. It maintains the main sensor with 48 MP and the same technical specifications as the other cameras. The main change is that Apple has improved image stabilization technology and introduced new image processing algorithms with the A18 Pro chip, resulting in videos with less noise and better colors.