Hands on with the iPhone 11 Pro’s cameras

When it comes to smartphone features, photography reigns supreme. The new iPhones’ cameras were the main focus of the most prominent product images in Apple’s event, and consumed the most overall time on stage. The latest handsets feature major upgrades to the camera system across the product line, which is good, because the perception among smartphone-market watchers is that Apple’s photography game had fallen behind competitors such as Google, Samsung, and Huawei.

After the event I got to spend some time with an iPhone 11 Pro and its Camera and Photos apps, both of which have been modified to support the new features of the iPhone 11 line. Here’s a look at what’s new and how it all fits together.

Adding the ‘ultra wide’ camera

All iPhone models gained a camera. You can also slide your finger over the buttons to bring up a zoom dial, which prominently displays the ‘home’ zooms of the available lenses, and subtly snaps to them when you get close.