iPhone 16 Pro to shoot 4K 120fps videos, Camera Button works with third-party apps

3 months ago 19

iPhone 16 AI features | Conceptual image

We’re just a few days away from Apple’s special event, when the company is expected to announce the new iPhone 16 models. There are a lot of rumors about the new phones out there, but now 9to5Mac has heard more details about what changes with the new hardware. When it comes to cameras, users can expect improvements such as 4K 120fps video and more.

New camera features coming to iPhone 16 Pro

Reliable sources familiar with the matter have shown us evidence of what’s new in the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera. As previously rumored, the new Pro models will get a new 48-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, and our sources corroborate this information. What’s more, the camera system will be exactly the same between the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max.

This means that both Pro models will have the tetraprism lens for 5x optical zoom, whereas it’s exclusive to the Pro Max model in the current generation.

But what about new features? When it comes to videos, iPhone 16 Pro will shoot videos in 4K resolution at 120fps for the first time (every iPhone is currently limited to 4K 60fps). When connected to external storage, users will be able to shoot ProRes 4K at 120fps. In addition, Apple is upgrading QuickTake from 1080p to 4K.

Interestingly, we’ve also seen evidence that Apple has tested 8K video filming with the iPhone 16 Pro. Since an 8K image is around 35 megapixels, both wide and ultra-wide lenses would have enough resolution to shoot 8K video. Of course, the new A18 Pro chip seems to be ready for 8K as well.

However, it’s unclear whether Apple has decided to enable 8K on production devices, especially as the zoom lens would still be limited to 4K. Apple might save 8K for next year’s iPhones, which are rumored to have a new, higher resolution zoom lens.

Other tidbits are support for the JPEG-XL format for capturing lossy and lossless photos, pausing and resuming video recording in the Camera app, removal of wind noise for videos, multiple new Photographic Styles with better machine learning to preserve skin tones, and a new mode for capturing Spatial Photos that can be viewed in 3D on Apple Vision Pro.

More details on the Camera Button

The iPhone 16 models are also rumored to get a new dedicated camera button, and our sources have also given us more details about this. Internally called the “Camera Button” (the marketing name may differ), it will be a touch-sensitive button capable of reproducing different actions depending on how you press or slide it.

A simple press will open the Camera app or a third-party app chosen by the user, a feature powered by the same iOS 18 API that lets users replace Apple’s Camera app on the Lock Screen.

With a soft press, the Camera Button will trigger the auto-focus. A hard press will take the photo or start shooting video. Sliding your finger across the surface of the button will adjust zoom or exposure.