Why does the iPhone 6’s camera protrude?

Generally speaking, mobile phones with protruding cameras have better camera effects. In order to improve the camera quality, the photosensitive elements must reach a certain size. For example, the cameras of Nokia 808 and Lumia 1020 are both protruding, and the protrusion of the camera ensures the photography effect.

This time the iPhone 6’s camera is outstanding. On the one hand, it has to take into account its ultra-thin design. On the other hand, the upgrade of the camera components also brings about an increase in thickness. When weighing this contradiction, Apple obviously tilted the balance towards ultra-thin design.

Camera of iphone 6

In terms of camera, Apple still uses an 8-megapixel rear iSight camera and a 1.3-megapixel front camera combination on the iPhone 6, with f/2.2 aperture and dual-color temperature flash. Apple said it continues to optimize camera technology, focusing twice as fast as before and enhancing face detection accuracy. In terms of video, iPhone 6 can shoot 1080P dynamic video at 30 or 60 frames. One point worth paying attention to is that because the iPhone 6’s body design is too thin, the camera module protrudes from the surface of the phone.

Due to the larger screen, the iPhone 6 is 1cm larger than the iPhone 5s in terms of width and 1.5cm longer. But in terms of body thickness, iPhone6 ??has reached 6.9mm.

The iPhone 6 camera has 8 million pixels (f2.2, 1.5μm pixels) + a front-facing 1.2 million pixel camera.

iPhone 6 does not have sapphire glass or a higher-pixel camera. It only has a 4.7-inch and more powerful A8 quad-core processor to drive a more powerful experience. The new generation of iPhone 6, whether it meets the upgrade expectations or continues to be a regret, as long as it is incomplete, the product can continue to become better; just like Apple's logo, it is missing a corner, but it is outstanding.

The new iPhone 6 has a larger 4.7-inch LCD screen and uses an A8 dual-core 64-bit processor that is 20% faster than the A7. In addition, although the iPhone 6 uses an 8-megapixel camera, it also adds new focusing technology. The addition of the NFC chip also gives the iPhone 6 the same aura as the 5s that had Touch ID.

In response to the question about the camera of iPhone 6, in addition, iPhone 6 has also optimized the facial recognition function, and can better identify faces that cannot be seen in crowds. Those faces in dark corners can also be seen from now on. Nothing can be hidden under the lens of iPhone6. The new sensor will automatically take a single HDR photo at the best time, so users no longer have to see the photo without HDR effect in their photo album.

The new technology of iPhone 6 camera, Focus Pixels?

Focus Pixels is actually phase difference focusing technology.

There are currently two focusing methods commonly used in cameras, namely contrast focusing (also called contrast focusing) and phase difference focusing. Phase focusing technology is also divided into two types, one requires light splitting (common in SLRs, which has higher lighting requirements), and the other is the phase focusing system used by Fujifilm and Sony that is directly integrated into the photosensitive chip. The advantage of this method is that it requires less lighting than the previous one and is suitable for more scenarios.

The iPhone 6 cannot be said to be the first mobile phone to support phase focusing, because the Samsung S5 also has a similar function. However, since the previous contrast focusing era of the iPhone was already very fast, after adding phase difference focusing this time, it is said that the focusing speed has doubled. This improvement can be said to be huge.

Reference materials

Zhihu.Zhihu [cited on 2018-1-19]