Apple's Tim Cook peppers Twitter with shared photos shot on iPhone XS

Credit: Yuntao Lu on Twitter

Beachside photos from Andrew Kearns are said to be "straight out of camera, no edits." Apple has sometimes been accused of being misleading by sharing images that were technically "Shot on iPhone," but have post-processing work and/or were made using add-on lenses or other expensive equipment.

In fact a fall photo shared by Cook was acknowledged by its creator, Erin Brooks, as being edited in Adobe Lightroom for iOS. While editing is common, it's not representative of an iPhone's default output. Brooks did say that she took advantage of the XS' adjustable depth-of-field effects.

Another shared photo by Yuntao Lu, taken at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, is said to demonstrate the XS' Smart HDR technology. The improvement on Apple's past HDR relies on more source photos, helping to prevent blown-out highlights. As evidence Lu included a nearly identical photo shot with an iPhone 6s Plus, in which much of the window area is overexposed.

Apple has relied on the quality of its cameras to help sell iPhones for several years. Other upgrades on the XS and XS Max include larger sensors and faster image processing.