Sam Oliver
Selfie fiends may have a good reason to upgrade to Apple's next-generation iPhone, as configuration files discovered in the first beta release of iOS 9 hint at new capabilities for the front-facing camera, including 1080p recording and a built-in flash.
In an iOS 9 manifest file — Â discovered by developer Hamza Sood — Â that lists ways for apps to determine the hardware capabilities of the device they're running on, a number of entries reference front-facing camera features that don't currently exist. In addition to 1080p recording and a front flash, the manifest also refers to "Front60FPSVideo," "FrontSlomo" and "FrontPanorama."
The front-facing camera on Apple's iPhone 6 series is capable of capturing video at 720p and 30 frames per second, and lacks the ability to capture panoramic photos or slow-motion video.
This marks the first suggestion that Apple could be planning an upgrade to the front-facing camera — which the company markets as "FaceTime HD" — in its next-generation iPhone. Until now, speculation has focused primarily on possibilities for the rear iSight camera.
Some expect Apple to move to a dual-camera setup on the rear, possibly with a new 12-megapixel sensor. Other reports have pointed to the addition of sensors with Sony's RGBW technology, which adds an extra white subpixel to improve low-light sensitivity.
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40 Comments
Sounds good. Something will have to give though so Apple can keep its margins in tact. Probably start with a 8 GB model phone instead of 16. Then go with 32 and 64.
I wonder what the Apple process is in developing next generation products. Do they have all the details figured out at the get-go, or do they have a long wish-list of features and changes they want to make and try to fit as many in as possible before a given deadline and a set of priorities with its given development budget? Do they have multiple variations being developed and the one they use is the one that looks most likely given the time and budget restrictions?
[quote name="PeterAlt" url="/t/186686/apples-iphone-6s-could-include-1080p-front-facing-camera-with-flash/0_100#post_2734159"]I wonder what the Apple process is in developing next generation products. Do they have all the details figured out at the get-go, or do they have a long wish-list of features and changes they want to make and try to fit as many in as possible before a given deadline and a set of priorities with its given development budget? Do they have multiple variations being developed and the one they use is the one that looks most likely given the time and budget restrictions?[/quote] Apple makes a whole bunch of prototypes each with slightly different features than the next, then they evaluate them all. That's what they did with iPhone 6. They made a variety of thicknesses and battery weights and chose the one that felt right with all trade-offs considered.
A feature that should have been since the 5 series.
[quote name="PeterAlt" url="/t/186686/apples-iphone-6s-could-improve-selfies-with-1080p-front-facing-camera-and-flash#post_2734159"]I wonder what the Apple process is in developing next generation products. Do they have all the details figured out at the get-go, or do they have a long wish-list of features and changes they want to make and try to fit as many in as possible before a given deadline and a set of priorities with its given development budget? Do they have multiple variations being developed and the one they use is the one that looks most likely given the time and budget restrictions?[/quote] Obviously they do have a budget and a timeline like all projects do. But I believe they have a lead time of about 2 years, if you can remember the rumors of 4,7" & 5,5" iPhones started long time before the 5s was released, people even thought it was going to be skipped. They also have to evaluate each component costs, otherwise the phone might be over engineered and costly. Lot of prototypes are tested, and with the costs and margins in mind the best option is selected. Once this is done, the final model is selected and rigorously tested.