Another year means that Apple is releasing a new flagship iPhone. With that, Apple is also providing more camera updates, but the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max might just offer the biggest upgrade we’ve seen in years.
For the first time ever, both of the iPhone 14 Pro models sport a 48MP wide-angle lens for your main camera. In years past, Apple continued to use 12MP sensors, with various upgrades as the camera module technology improved. Along with providing crisp photos when just snapping pictures, you can take your mobile photography to the next level if you want to use Apple ProRAW on iPhone 14 Pro.
Apple ProRAW was one of the defining features of the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, and continues to be prominently featured in new iPhone announcements. This includes the all-new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. However, this time around, ProRAW is getting an upgrade thanks to the new 48MP primary sensor.
The feature was announced alongside the iPhone 12 Pro series, but wasn’t actually made available until iOS 14.3. Essentially, Apple ProRAW combines features like Smart HDR and Deep Fusion, while providing the advantage of taking photos in RAW.
Speaking of RAW, this is a term that you’ve likely heard a few times, especially if you’ve had a 10-minute conversation with a photographer. The benefit of snapping a picture in RAW, over something like HEIC or JPEG comes down to compression.
RAW files are uncompressed, making it much easier to edit every aspect of the photo. You can turn a picture that may look like it belongs in the trash, and turn it into something serviceable, if not downright stunning.
When you take a picture, your iPhone is performing an enormous number of tasks in just split seconds. This combines various images at the same time, without any delay between tapping the shutter button and viewing the photo. There is processing being performed by every aspect of your iPhone, including the CPU, GPU, onboard Neural Engine, and more.
How to Use Apple ProRAW on iPhone 14 Pro
By default, your iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max uses a 12MP image, which is still pretty great. But if you want to make the most out of your iPhone’s camera, then you’ll need to first enable ProRAW.
Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Scroll down and tap Camera.
Tap Formats at the top of the page.
Under the Photo Capture section, tap the toggle next to Apple ProRAW.
Make sure that ProRAW Resolution is set to 48MP.
Once ProRAW is enabled, you’ll be able to capture 48MP pictures when using the main camera on your iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. However, it’s not automatically enabled, and here’s how you can snap photos in ProRAW:
Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
In the top right corner, tap the RAW button with a line through it.
Line up and frame your photo.
Tap the Shutter button.
Because the 48MP ProRAW images are massive in size (around 100MB per picture), you probably won’t want to leave this enabled. Luckily, you can simply toggle this on or off right from the Camera app. Plus, whenever you leave the Camera app and come back to it, ProRAW turns itself off so you don’t end up with 48MP pictures of the inside of your pocket.
Make Your iPhone Remember Your Preferences
As we mentioned in the previous section, you might notice that Apple ProRAW will not be used with every single picture even after it’s been enabled. This is done on purpose, as Apple doesn’t want you to run out of storage space too quickly. Considering the fact that each ProRAW image is around 100MB, it’s a decision that we fully understand.
But what if you don’t care about storage limits and just want to be able to use your iPhone to take the best photos all the time? Well, with a few taps, you can actually make your iPhone remember your preferences, always snapping photos in ProRAW as opposed to needing to manually toggled.
Open the Settings app on your iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max.
Scroll down and tap Camera.
Tap Preserve Settings.
Scroll down and tap the toggle next to Apple ProRAW.
Moving forward, every picture that you snap takes full advantage of the new camera sensors packed into the iPhone 14 Pro. Of course, you will want to keep an eye on the remaining storage of your iPhone as you take more pictures. But if you rely on iCloud Photo Library, then this won’t be much of an issue.
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
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