CheckMag | Apple needs to be more honest about the iPhone camera specification

You can always count on Apple to do things differently. Even its 1997 to 2003 advertising campaign “Think Different” alluded to this premise. But let's not pretend that thinking about something differently makes it different - or indeed better.

Case in point - the 2023 WWDC launch of Apple's Vision Pro. Something we all know as a VR (Virtual Reality) headset, but not mentioned once as such in the entire launch presentation. Similarly, the displays on many of its products are not High Resolution or High Refresh Rate. They are Retina or ProMotion. Same thing or “thinking different”?

If you’re shopping for a phone with an optical zoom you couldn’t go wrong choosing between a Pixel 8 Pro and an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple store pages openly advertise that the iPhone 15 Pro models offer “up to” a 10x optical zoom. Even the lowly iPhone 15 offers a 4x optical zoom. Twice the zoom than a Pixel 8 Pro and on par with an S23 Ultra.

So why are all the reviewers and spec sheets saying that the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 5x optical zoom? Because Apple measures their zoom range from the focal length of the ultra wide and not the standard camera. This would explain why the iPhone 15 (non Pro) has a 4x optical zoom. Thinking different or out and out lies?

Technically the measurements aren’t wrong, but then why does the rest of the industry measure their zoom lenses based on the magnification of the standard camera, not the ultrawide. Why does the new Pixel 8 Pro only have a 5x optical and not a 10x optical as per Apple's playbook. Does measuring something differently to the competition make a product better? At some point there has to be a line drawn between doing things differently and out and out misrepresentation of a product's capability. As a consumer, reading between the lines and due diligence can save you from a US$1,300 disappointment.

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