Apple Discusses How it Created the iPhone 13's Cinematic Mode

All four iPhone 13 models feature a new Cinematic mode that lets users record video with a shallow depth of field and automatic focus changes between subjects, and TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino spoke with Apple marketing executive Kaiann Drance and designer Johnnie Manzari to learn more about how the feature was developed.

iPhone 13 Cinematic Mode
Drance said Cinematic mode was more challenging to implement than Portrait mode for photos given that rendering autofocus changes in real time is a heavy computational workload. The feature is powered by the A15 Bionic chip and the Neural Engine.

We knew that bringing a high quality depth of field to video would be magnitudes more challenging [than Portrait Mode]. Unlike photos, video is designed to move as the person filming, including hand shake. And that meant we would need even higher quality depth data so Cinematic Mode could work across subjects, people, pets, and objects, and we needed that depth data continuously to keep up with every frame. Rendering these autofocus changes in real time is a heavy computational workload.

Manzari added that Apple's design team spent time researching the history of filmmaking and cinematography techniques for realistic focus transitions.

When you look at the design process, we begin with a deep reverence and respect for image and filmmaking through history. We're fascinated with questions like what principles of image and filmmaking are timeless? What craft has endured culturally and why?

Manzari said Apple observed directors of photography, camera operators, and other filmmaking professionals on sets to learn about the purpose of shallow depth of field in storytelling, which led Apple to realize the importance of guiding the viewer's attention.

The full interview goes into more detail about the work that went into Cinematic mode and highlights Panzarino's testing of the feature at Disneyland.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
top stories 2025 12 04a

Top Stories: iOS 26.2 Coming Soon, Apple Execs Depart, and More

Saturday December 6, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public. There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

w5jck Avatar
55 months ago
This is all marketing BS anyway. Apple, Google, and other smartphone manufacturers all do this. They take their lackluster smartphone cameras, put them in the hands of professional videographers in expensive studio locations then post process the bejeezes out of the video with a battery of expensive computers and software. First, those videos look crappy on the TV commercials. Almost every dark scene has the subject front lit via studio lighting, which is cheating IMO. Second, the average person will never be able to grab their smartphone and produce anything like that. It is total BS. It is putting lipstick on a pig. If you want to create TV quality video, then mortgage your house and shell out a small fortune for good equipment, don't buy a smartphone to attempt that. Or you can drink their cool-aide and be disappointed. Smartphone equals low quality images/video for social media. Smart advertising won’t change that.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
55 months ago
It still doesn’t look great, watch Joanna Sterns review. All that blur around the subject. It has way to
go. Just consider it as the new Animoji, but one with potential. Hopefully Apple will perfect it with software and not require a new iPhone to get better quality. Also watching Zollotechs review, I still don’t see the 35 mm film quality.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moakesy Avatar
55 months ago

This is all marketing BS anyway. Apple, Google, and other smartphone manufacturers all do this. They take their lackluster smartphone cameras, put them in the hands of professional videographers in expensive studio locations then post process the bejeezes out of the video with a battery of expensive computers and software. First, those videos look crappy on the TV commercials. Almost every dark scene has the subject front lit via studio lighting, which is cheating IMO. Second, the average person will never be able to grab their smartphone and produce anything like that. It is total BS. It is putting lipstick on a pig. If you want to create TV quality video, then mortgage your house and shell out a small fortune for good equipment, don't buy a smartphone to attempt that. Or you can drink their cool-aide and be disappointed. Smartphone equals low quality images/video for social media. Smart advertising won’t change that.
So what.

Does anyone really believe that buying that sports car will make them a better driver, or that kitchen gadget will make you a chef? Of course not, but professional drivers and chefs will take their money and help the marketing people to give us what we want. And we want to be seduced....

We don't have our own TV studio, so the fact it's not the same as pro gear makes no difference. Most people have no want or need for pro gear anyway. What people want is a good enough image to share with their friends, so they can see it on the 6" screen of their phone. This particular feature will appeal to some and will allow them to justify the purchase to themselves. For others, it may be longer battery life or whatever. None of us need this stuff, but we do want it.

It's been going on since the dawn of advertising and this is no different.

Look what happened to Nike once they got Michael Jordan on board. It was another shoe, just like all the others they had made, but suddenly the target market was seduced and Nike went massive.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5105973 Avatar
55 months ago

This is all marketing BS anyway. Apple, Google, and other smartphone manufacturers all do this. They take their lackluster smartphone cameras, put them in the hands of professional videographers in expensive studio locations then post process the bejeezes out of the video with a battery of expensive computers and software. First, those videos look crappy on the TV commercials. Almost every dark scene has the subject front lit via studio lighting, which is cheating IMO. Second, the average person will never be able to grab their smartphone and produce anything like that. It is total BS. It is putting lipstick on a pig. If you want to create TV quality video, then mortgage your house and shell out a small fortune for good equipment, don't buy a smartphone to attempt that. Or you can drink their cool-aide and be disappointed. Smartphone equals low quality images/video for social media. Smart advertising won’t change that.
Actually, Moment sells some accessories that will help an amateur get better lighting and produce videos that look good, as well as occasionally run programs you can donate to to help artists afford equipment. Would they help someone produce results that pass as what you think of as TV quality? I highly doubt it.

But if you’ve got kids who are in film classes and they need to at least practice applying some of the principles that pros with the house-mortgage expensive equipment use, it’s not a bad start. They may even be able to produce sellable results that will help them on their way to true professional grade stuff.

Not that any of this stuff is cheap and Cinema mode is far from polished, but it’s more accessible than pro grade equipment. And that’s important to learning principles and processes that will help make the PERSON a pro someday.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DEMinSoCAL Avatar
55 months ago

By far my favorite new feature on the 13.
A feature I will literally NEVER USE on the 13.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Laird Knox Avatar
55 months ago

This is all marketing BS anyway. Apple, Google, and other smartphone manufacturers all do this. They take their lackluster smartphone cameras, put them in the hands of professional videographers in expensive studio locations then post process the bejeezes out of the video with a battery of expensive computers and software. First, those videos look crappy on the TV commercials. Almost every dark scene has the subject front lit via studio lighting, which is cheating IMO. Second, the average person will never be able to grab their smartphone and produce anything like that. It is total BS. It is putting lipstick on a pig. If you want to create TV quality video, then mortgage your house and shell out a small fortune for good equipment, don't buy a smartphone to attempt that. Or you can drink their cool-aide and be disappointed. Smartphone equals low quality images/video for social media. Smart advertising won’t change that.
Welcome to desktop publishing in the 90s.

You are right, they should just give up. If a $1000 multipurpose device can't match a $100,000 custom built tool what's the point? :rolleyes:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)