iPhone 12 Pro now has more dynamic range than the Canon EOS R5!

(Image credit: Apple, Canon)

UPDATE: Apple has released iOS 14.3, outfitting iPhone 12 Pro and Max cameras with its new ProRAW format – enabling them to capture 12-bit DNG (RAW) files that possess 14 stops of dynamic range.

This means that the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will possess even more dynamic range than the Canon EOS R5 – which is a remarkable achievement, even for two of the best camera phones on the market.

It's an incredibly exciting prospect for smartphone photographers, and serves as another stark reminder that phones just keeping on catching up with even the best cameras.

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ORIGINAL STORY (16 Nov): The iPhone 12 Pro and Max will soon benefit from 12-bit DNG files with 14 stops of dynamic range, courtesy of the new ProRAW features that have now entered developer beta with the new iOS 14.3.

• Read more: iPhone 12 Pro review

This gives the Pro and Max models even more oomph than the base iPhone 12 family, in addition to a third camera module (and, in the case of the Max, a 47% larger image sensor featuring sensor-shift stabilization).

While it has been known since the phones were announced that ProRAW was coming to the devices, it's only now that its exact features have become a known quantity. PetaPixel broke down the details of the new imaging properties:

"We now know that a ProRAW file will be a 12-bit RAW DNG with 14-stops of dynamic range. That file will give you access to the standard options like white balance, tone mapping, exposure, and black point, but Apple will also be providing more information inside the RAW file that includes tone mapping and pigmentation maps for skin and skies.

The file will be written to the DNG, or digital negative, file format. The native Photos app as well as certain third-party apps – like Darkroom – will be able to gain full access to a wealth of digital image data right off the bat. Programs like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop as well as Capture One will also be able to read the file, but those initial renderings will improve once those companies update their profiles to include the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max."

James has 22 years experience as a journalist, serving as editor of Digital Camera World for 6 of them. He started working in the photography industry in 2014, product testing and shooting ad campaigns for Olympus, as well as clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal. An Olympus / OM System, Canon and Hasselblad shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and he loves instant cameras, too.

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