Обзор Android could learn a thing or two from iPhone 17’s selfie camera game

[Обзор]

TL;DR

• Apple has announced that all iPhone 17 series models have an 18MP selfie camera with a square sensor.
• This sensor allows for landscape or portrait images and videos while holding the phone in portrait orientation.
• This camera also offers Center Stage tech for automatically tracking you during video calls, as well as improved video stabilization.

Apple has just announced the iPhone 17 series, and the phones bring a few upgrades across the board. However, Apple is also bringing a rather cool selfie camera to the table, and we’d like to see this tech on Android phones.


All four iPhone 17 series models offer an 18MP selfie camera. However, this so-called Center Stage camera has a square sensor. Apple says this sensor shape allows for landscape or portrait photos/videos without physically changing the phone’s orientation. Apple is ostensibly cropping in on the sensor for portrait and landscape shots, but it’s unclear if you can take a square selfie to make the most of the square sensor.


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Apple says this selfie camera has a wider field of view, too. This enables features like the iPad’s Center Stage tech to automatically track you when you’re moving in photos and video calls. Apple is also putting this wider field of view and cropped sensor to good use elsewhere, offering “Ultra” stabilization for 4K/60fps video. Otherwise, the iPhone 17 series also takes a page out of HMD’s playbook by letting you simultaneously shoot video via the front and rear camera.


In any event, I wouldn’t mind seeing this approach on some Android phones, as being able to shoot landscape or portrait selfies without physically turning the phone seems pretty convenient. However, a square camera sensor likely means that some of those megapixels go unused when you’re shooting anything other than a square photo. So iPhone 17 owners might have to shoot in a square format if they want the highest resolution possible.


This wouldn’t be the first time smartphone brands have experimented with similarly offbeat camera configurations. 2021’s Moto One Action shipped with one rear camera sensor that was flipped 90 degrees for video capture, allowing users to record landscape videos while holding the phone in portrait orientation.


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