iOS 16 Brings New iPhone 13 Camera Features for Portraits and Cinematic Mode - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 16 Brings New iPhone 13 Camera Features for Portraits and Cinematic Mode

by

For iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max users, iOS 16 adds new Camera app functionality. On its iOS 16 website, Apple says that there are two new iPhone 13-exclusive features for Portrait images and Cinematic mode.

iphone 13 pro max display bleen
When using Portrait mode, iOS 16 lets you blur objects that are in the foreground of a photo for a more realistic depth-of-field effect, rather than just allowing for the adjustment of background blur.

In Cinematic mode, blur quality has also improved. Apple says that when recording videos in Cinematic mode, the depth-of-field effect is now more accurate for profile angles and around the edges of hair and glasses.

These two new camera features are exclusive to Apple's iPhone 13 lineup at the current time, but the iPhone 14 is also likely to support these additions.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple Says CarPlay Ultra is Coming to These Vehicle Brands

Thursday May 21, 2026 11:53 am PDT by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. CarPlay Ultra...
Read Full Article
Apple Event Logo

Apple to Release These 15 New Products Later This Year

Friday May 22, 2026 6:36 am PDT by
April and May have been relatively slow months for Apple this year, but there is a lot to look forward to heading into WWDC 2026 and beyond. Apple is expected to release at least 15 more products later this year, with some of them held up until the more personalized version of Siri launches. Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches in September, Apple's all-new smart...
Read Full Article • 28 comments
imac video apple feature

Apple Released Two New Accessories This Month

Friday May 22, 2026 12:24 pm PDT by
May has been a quiet stretch in terms of new Apple products, but the company did release two accessories on its online store this month. First up was a new Pride Edition Sport Loop for the Apple Watch. The band features a rainbow design with 11 colors of woven nylon yarns. U.S. pricing is set at $49. The band is part of Apple's 2026 Pride Collection, which also includes a new Pride...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

T
that be me
52 months ago
I'm hoping for an option to disable smart HDR 4 for the 13 series. I have no idea why it was removed or why there's still no option to turn it off months after it's initial release but it needs to come back.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
svish
52 months ago
Good for 13 users. Hoping to see this and new features later this year on iPhone 14.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
syklee26
52 months ago

I’ll believe it when I see it. Attempts to improve “fokeh” over the last 4 years have been laughable, at best. Apple did improve a tonne of other camera features, it’s legit one of the top phone cameras. But I’m sorry their fake bokeh looks like garbage.
Your expectations on a digital camera is too high. The real bokeh requires physical depth on a lens only available on the dslr or mirrorless.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jprmercado Avatar
jprmercado
52 months ago

I'm hoping for an option to disable smart HDR 4 for the 13 series. I have no idea why it was removed or why there's still no option to turn it off months after it's initial release but it needs to come back.
Yeah, me too. We have a whole thread here in the forums on how aggressive Smart HDR is on the iPhone 13 (aka the “watercolor effect”). Weird how it affects mainly only the iPhone 13 series.

If Apple doesn’t add the option to turn off Smart HDR, I’m hoping they at least adjusted Smart HDR to be, uh, smarter.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GraXXoR Avatar
GraXXoR
52 months ago
Hair looks like ***** in portrait mode. In fact the only things that looks good in portrait mode are bottles, glasses and things without ”holes” like cubes, balls and Plates of food on simple backgrounds.

Given that they have three cameras to work with, with over 2cm^2 of “area” between them to play with means surely they can do better.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adamw Avatar
adamw
52 months ago
More Camera options for iPhone 13 models is great news.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments