More info and examples of the differences in photo quality of the two cameras. What I found interesting was his conclusion. He said, “…as someone who does not take a lot of photos or videos on their smartphones, I’m not sure the difference is worth the upgrade.”
First of all, if you “don’t take a lot of photos”, why the hell are you reviewing a camera? Secondly, as someone who does take a lot of photos, I would come to a completely different conclusion – the new sensor, wider angle lens and “computational photography” make the iPhone XS/XS Max a potential upgrade for me even over my iPhone X.
I don’t view that as much as a camera review as a “if you don’t take a lot of photos, is the upgrade worth it” which is a valid question. So much is made of the cameras when a new iPhone ships and people like you, Austin Mann, etc. really show off the differences but most of us are fairly casual photographers that use our phones to take snapshots. Given that, at what point is the camera good enough?
I asked myself this as I was pondering whether to move up from my 6S Plus at all and if so, whether I cared about the camera difference between the Xs and Xr. Well… I grabbed an Xs Max and the camera is amazing. Is it a worthwhile upgrade from the X? Not sure – look at the post by the Halide guy you linked to… yes, there are differences but for a snapshot kind of use… eh.
On the other hand I was in the Apple store here yesterday and met a makeup artist who really needs the best detail and fidelity she can get and is considering moving from the X to the Xs because of the improvements.
“Given that, at what point is the camera good enough?” When the camera shoots what you see.
While I am a professional photographer, my wife isn’t. She loves shooting with her iPhone but often complains of the blown highlights in clouds, sky, and lighting (although she doesn’t describe it that way). I could (and do) teach her about capturing the light and angles and patience and…and…and…but sometimes, she just wants to take a picture of clouds. 🙂
A camera that lets her “just shoot” without worrying about blown highlights would be great for her. We’re getting closer and closer to that point.
You need an Xs Shawn. Or your wife does. I’ve just scratched the surface but it’s pretty amazing and a HUGE upgrade camera-wise over the 6S.
I think one of the things that is so amazing about the computational approach is exemplified by the portrait mode in the Xs – you can adjust depth of field after the fact. Showing that to the makeup artist I met yesterday and her eyes lit up because, of course, her pics are making of people’s face. That plus the detail had her on the edge of upgrading.
Oh *I* definitely need one. 🙂
Hard to justify it to my wife though. 🙂
“honey, I broke mine. Of course it was an accident! How could you think otherwise. No, I don’t really care about the camera! Yes, the sofa is comfy… why?”
I don’t have either phone but I do know something about looking at pictures. The X displayed many more blown highlights than the Xs and for me, that’s significant. You can’t recover those, even with decent tools after the fact so this is a significant difference. Of course, one could play with the metering and exposure on the X and get rid of a bit of that, but all other things being equal getting rid of blown highlights has great appeal to me and I think it will to many looking at getting the Xs.