iPhone Diary

A busy time meant that my first test of the new 5x telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max was nothing more than a quick 3x versus 5x comparison shot from my apartment as part of a first impressions piece.

Yesterday, I got the chance to see how useful the new lens is for portraits – from the purely optical bokeh seen above, to testing iOS 17’s newfound ability to automatically add depth data, letting you adjust focus after taking the photo …

I may have just taken delivery of my shiny new iPhone 15 Pro Max, but I do get to write one last diary post about its predecessor, before it gets unceremoniously packaged up to be sent back to Apple.

Not content with one time-consuming hobby – Argentine tango – I attempted to add another: amateur filmmaking. The latter didn’t get too far, as it struggled to compete for my time and attention (I’ve so far managed just two micro-shorts, totaling all of three-and-a-half minutes), but I did get to combine the two in one project …

When I say first impressions of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, I mean just that: I’ve owned the phone for a couple of hours, and so far done nothing other than set it up, play with it a little, and test the new 5x telephoto camera.

I do have to say that the delivery and setup experience wasn’t quite as smooth as it could have been …

Yep, I’m now a fully paid-up member of the Annual iPhone Upgrade Club. As of the iPhone X, I’ve upgraded every year to the iPhone 11, 12, 13, and 14. 

As usual, it’s the camera improvements that sold me on the new model – even though I’m fairly sure I’ll never actually use two of the biggest new features …

I’ve been using the iOS 17 developer beta for a few weeks now, and been meaning to write a roundup of the features I’ve found most useful. I will get around to that, but there’s one which stands out to me – and that’s StandBy.

Apple’s primary intention with this right now is to turn the iPhone into a handy nightstand clock, but this isn’t the only way to use it …

There’s always been a significant difference in the low-light video and photo performance on iPhones. But a recent holiday really highlighted for me how dramatic that difference has become, especially when it comes to the telephoto lens on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

So much so that I would argue that low-light video performance really needs to be Apple’s next priority when it comes to the iPhone’s photographic capabilities …