This hidden setting turned my iPhone 16 Professional into knowledgeable picture studio

Positive, I would’ve been emotionally connected to my iPhone 12 Pro (despite the fact that it was hanging on by a thread), however I used to be by no means so glad to see the digicam go. Once I first bought it again in 2020, like all new telephones, I felt like I had the latest, baddest digicam on the block. I do not know if it was age, being left within the solar too lengthy (just a few occasions) or the conspiracy that Apple deliberately degrades older iPhone fashions, however now in 2025, the digicam high quality had develop into borderline embarrassing.

I am not kidding — my mates would seize my telephone to take an image and instantly ask what was improper with it. However then different occasions, so long as the lighting was completely good, it could gaslight me into considering it was one of the best digicam round once more. I used to be carried out questioning whether or not or not a photograph would end up just a few weeks in the past once I lastly upgraded to an iPhone 16 Pro.

Now that I have been taking pictures my pictures with the for the final two weeks, this is what I discovered stark (and never so insane) in regards to the bounce up 4 generations.

Associated

5 unexpected things I wish I knew before upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro

I traded in my iPhone 12 Professional and walked right into a tech id disaster.

The starkest distinction

Lighting did not should be on its finest conduct

First, let’s speak specs. The iPhone 12 Professional has a 12-megapixel digicam whereas the 16 Professional has a 48-megapixel digicam — that is actually 4 occasions the megapixels 4 generations later. I’ve already observed the distinction once I’m zooming in or cropping my pictures from my new digicam, and it brings me nice pleasure as a social media supervisor who’s at all times reducing, cropping, and pasting all whereas my fingers are crossed on the standard facet of issues.

Now, let’s transfer to aperture, which is how a lot gentle a lens permits right into a digicam. The 12 Professional has ƒ/1.6 aperture on its foremost digicam whereas the 16 Professional has ƒ/1.78. On the floor, aperture going up is not at all times one of the best factor — it does let in additional gentle. Nonetheless, that was the principle challenge I used to be operating into with my dusty 12 Professional — every part was simply manner too darkish. Mix that barely “worse” aperture on the 16 Professional with 4 occasions the megapixels and the opposite improved processing powers it possesses? I will take the 16 Professional successful the specs battle every single day of the week.

Hear, I used to be anticipating to be blown away by the iPhone 16 Professional’s digicam high quality in comparison with the dinosaur I used to be taking footage on the 5 years prior. However after tooling round for a short while, I spotted that even after 4 generations, Apple did such job with the iPhone 12 Professional’s lenses that every one the upgrades that got here after have been really simply fine-tuning tweaks to optimize an already good digicam. I wasn’t as overwhelmed with image high quality as I assumed I might be.

Granted, my Snapchats have been noticeably increased high quality — I even had a buddy ask me what I had carried out otherwise within the final week. I am not saying I regarded higher. Quite the opposite, you possibly can truly see each single pore on my face (which I did not love, clearly). However what I did discover proper off the bat was that beneath any lighting, good or pitch black, my new iPhone 16 Professional bought shot in it. My iPhone 12 Professional would fully freak out in any form of lighting — and I could not even take into consideration taking a selfie exterior for the sake of sunshine stripes that fully dominated any facial options, not to mention posting any footage I took to my Instagram.

Associated

I’ve got beef with Apple’s frustrating hardware transition

Spare {hardware}, good sir?

I suppose my 12 Professional gave me a little bit picture PTSD, as a result of I discovered myself hesitating to take footage I knew it could not take even once I already upgraded to the 16 Professional. Nonetheless, I overcame that feature-fear and was delighted to seek out that I had image freedom as soon as extra with the brand new telephone. Lighting positive helps any image, nevertheless it did not make or break my image high quality within the slightest.

New pictures options

Whats up Photographic Kinds

Bear in mind how Portrait Mode took the world by storm again in 2016? Effectively, I used to be not impressed. I thought of myself a Lightroom Cell skilled on the ripe age of 17, and I most well-liked to edit my footage after I took them — not throughout — thanks very a lot. Through the years, increasingly more modes got here out, however I wasn’t one to leap on that bandwagon. It was at all times the worst once I would ask a stranger to take an image on my telephone out in public solely to undergo my digicam later and see that they selected to make use of Portrait Mode. They virtually at all times did it to be thoughtful, so I might scream into the theoretical pillow once I bought residence so they would not assume I used to be ungrateful.

However a brand new function has lastly had the gall to strike my fancy this time: Photographic Kinds. Granted, it helps to work at a tech website — Patrick O’Rourke, Pocket-lint’s Editor-in-Chief, put me onto this explicit setting. Mainly, it makes use of scene understanding to regulate explicit colours in several components of your pictures. Individuals usually use it to personalize how they need their pores and skin tones to seem all the way down to the pixel. I used to be intrigued by how nuanced it might get.

Associated

How I escaped the HEIC nightmare and found a JPEG dream

Get that “Excessive Effectivity” out of my face.

To begin, you need to select 4 of your favourite footage — the catch is that they needed to be taken on the brand new telephone. After you select them, they’re going to act as mediums to match completely different Kinds. You possibly can choose between:

• Customary
• Amber
• Gold
• Rose Gold
• Impartial
• Cool Rose

Since I’ve hotter undertones, the latter three made me look completely insane and straight out of a 2014 Tumblr selfie captioned: Listening to Sweater Climate #theneighbourhood. So, I opted for Amber, after which bought to taking part in round with the depth of the tone and colour. Like all Apple options, it was extremely intuitive — so long as you’ve got used any form of primary picture editor ever in your life.

You possibly can return and edit this setting any time, however from there on out, the images you are taking will mechanically be edited in that model. I prefer it as a result of it is extremely delicate — not in your face just like the notorious Portrait Mode. Now, my footage are simply ever-so-slightly hotter in the best way I might often edit them anyway.

Digicam Management

I actually could not care much less about it

Sure, we all know — there is a enjoyable new button on the iPhone 16 fashions that successfully flip your iPhone right into a digicam. Nonetheless, I fairly actually have not used it since I arrange the telephone, thought, “Oh yeah, there’s this new factor,” tried it as soon as, and stated out loud, “I’m by no means going to make use of this factor.”

Nonetheless, I do should acknowledge it, because it’s the latest piece of {hardware} on the iPhone for the reason that Motion Button, and I’m neck-deep into the pictures division right here. In trying to find use for the brand new button (and to throw Apple a bone right here), I tweaked a fast setting to create an precise use for Digicam Management: clicking it as I choose up my locked iPhone to right away open the digicam app with out having to unlock or get up the display screen within the first place.

The iPhone 16 Professional’s default is to require the display screen to be on to launch digicam management. To vary this:

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose Digicam Management.
3. Scroll to the underside and toggle off “Require Display On.”

And there you’ve got it — now you possibly can deal with your iPhone just like the point-and-shoot Apple needs you to. Tremendous-computer capabilities tagged on, after all.