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

Positive, I would’ve been emotionally hooked up to my iPhone 12 Pro (though it was hanging on by a thread), however I used to be by no means so joyful to see the digicam go. After 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 (a couple of instances) or the conspiracy that Apple deliberately degrades older iPhone fashions, however now in 2025, the digicam high quality had change into borderline embarrassing.

I am not kidding — my pals would seize my telephone to take an image and instantly ask what was flawed with it. However then different instances, so long as the lighting was completely good, it might gaslight me into considering it was the perfect digicam round once more. I used to be achieved questioning whether or not or not a photograph would prove a couple of weeks in the past once I lastly upgraded to an iPhone 16 Pro.

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

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

The starkest distinction

Lighting did not should be on its greatest conduct

First, let’s discuss specs. The iPhone 12 Professional has a 12-megapixel digicam whereas the 16 Professional has a 48-megapixel digicam — that is actually 4 instances 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 slicing, 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 principal digicam whereas the 16 Professional has ƒ/1.78. On the floor, aperture going up is not at all times the perfect factor — it does let in additional gentle. Nonetheless, that was the primary challenge I used to be working into with my dusty 12 Professional — all the pieces was simply method too darkish. Mix that barely “worse” aperture on the 16 Professional with 4 instances the megapixels and the opposite improved processing powers it possesses? I will take the 16 Professional profitable the specs battle on daily basis 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 time, I noticed that even after 4 generations, Apple did such a great job with the iPhone 12 Professional’s lenses that each 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 believed I’d be.

Granted, my Snapchats have been noticeably greater high quality — I even had a good friend ask me what I had achieved in a different way within the final week. I am not saying I seemed higher. Quite the opposite, you could possibly really 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 a great shot in it. My iPhone 12 Professional would utterly freak out in any form of lighting — and I could not even take into consideration taking a selfie outdoors for the sake of sunshine stripes that utterly dominated any facial options, not to mention posting any footage I took to my Instagram.

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Spare {hardware}, good sir?

I suppose my 12 Professional gave me just a little 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 search out that I had image freedom as soon as extra with the brand new telephone. Lighting certain helps any image, however it did not make or break my image high quality within the slightest.

New images options

Howdy Photographic Types

Bear in mind how Portrait Mode took the world by storm again in 2016? Nicely, I used to be not impressed. I thought of myself a Lightroom Cell skilled on the ripe age of 17, and I most popular 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 nearly at all times did it to be thoughtful, so I’d scream into the theoretical pillow once I bought residence so they would not assume I used to be ungrateful.

However a brand new characteristic has lastly had the gall to strike my fancy this time: Photographic Types. Granted, it helps to work at a tech web site — Patrick O’Rourke, Pocket-lint’s Editor-in-Chief, put me onto this specific setting. Mainly, it makes use of scene understanding to regulate specific colours in numerous elements of your pictures. Folks typically use it to personalize how they need their pores and skin tones to look right down to the pixel. I used to be intrigued by how nuanced it may get.

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Get that “Excessive Effectivity” out of my face.

To start out, it’s important 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 will act as mediums to match totally different Types. 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 enjoying round with the depth of the tone and colour. Like all Apple options, it was extremely intuitive — so long as you have 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 photographs you are taking will mechanically be edited in that type. I prefer it as a result of it is extremely refined — not in your face just like the notorious Portrait Mode. Now, my footage are simply ever-so-slightly hotter in the way in which I’d often edit them anyway.

Digital camera 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 mentioned 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 images division right here. In trying to find a great 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 Digital camera 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 alter this:

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

And there you’ve gotten it — now you’ll be able to deal with your iPhone just like the point-and-shoot Apple desires you to. Tremendous-computer capabilities tagged on, in fact.