Over the last few weeks, Apple has released a series of ads touting different features of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. On Sunday, in time for the Golden Globe Awards, the company released a new ad titled ‘Take Mine‘ that shows off the Portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus. The Portrait mode uses the dual-camera system on the 5.5-inch iPhone to focus on the foreground subject and blur the background.
‘Portrait mode on iPhone 7 Plus is practically magic’
The ad starts with a millennial woman visiting her grandmother in a Greek village. They greet each other with open arms. When the two women are sitting in a cafe, the young lady whips out her iPhone 7 Plus to capture the photo of her grandmother using the Portrait mode. The old lady loves the picture and exclaims, “What a great picture!” What happens next is quite predictable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8mR33cp_Fk
The granny lets everyone around know that her granddaughter has taken a great click. Now everyone in the village wants a picture of themselves in the Portrait mode. The young woman goes around the village taking photos of men, women and children all posing for the camera. The villagers act as if smartphones and cameras are foreign to them. The ad ends with the message, “Portrait mode on iPhone 7 Plus is practically magic.”
iPhone 7 Plus closes the gap with DSLRs
Though the iPhone 7 Plus still has a long way to go before it can match the DSLR cameras, the Portrait mode has closed the gap between the iPhone and DSLRs. Though the feature was announced in September, it was rolled out to the public via an iOS 10 update on October 24. The Cupertino company is still improving the feature as it requires some machine learning.
Last month, Apple shared tips from professional photographers on how to take great quality pictures using the Portrait mode on iPhone 7 Plus. The Portrait mode uses the dual-camera system to detect nine levels of depth, and then the smartphone software adds blur to the background. The 5.5-inch iPhone comes with two 12-megapixel rear cameras with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, and a new 6-element lens.
Portrait mode is expected to remain exclusive to the bigger version of the iPhone for at least another year. Apple is said to launch three smartphones in 2017: iPhone 7S, 7S Plus, and an iPhone 8. Reports indicate that the Portrait mode would appear only on the iPhone 7S Plus and iPhone 8. In another ad released last month, Apple indicated that the iPhone 7 Plus camera is as good as movie cameras.
iPhone turns ten
Ten years ago, Apple’s then-CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a device that has since redefined the way we communicate, work and live. The first iPhone was unveiled exactly ten years ago at MacWorld 2007 in San Francisco. In commemoration, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company has sold over a billion iPhone units since then. Cook promised that it is just the beginning, and the “best is yet to come.” Here’s the video of Steve Jobs unveiling the first iPhone:
