GoKawiilI recently observed that Apple appeared to have abandoned Cinematic mode, and a video experiment perfectly illustrates my frustration at this fact.
That’s not because the feature is bad, but rather that it comes so close to being good enough for real-life use that it’s hard to see why Apple hasn’t taken advantage of the massive increases in power between the iPhone 13 on which it launched and the latest iPhones. Let me show you what I mean …
I said previously that I understood why Apple hasn’t made updating it a priority, but also argued that it should do so to encourage future videographers and filmmakers – especially teenagers who may not have access to any other camera kit.
A friend of mine uses a smartphone to interview complete strangers passing by on the street, and somehow succeeds in having them open up in ways you could never imagine. I decided to turn the tables and put him on the stool and to likewise film using a smartphone, in this case my iPhone 16 Pro Max.
I wanted to see how well Cinematic mode could cope with a relatively simple challenge: a person in the foreground with around 25 feet of separation from railings behind him, and probably close to a thousand feet to the O2 on the opposite side of the Thames. Additionally, he would be sat on a stool, meaning rather limited movement.
The answer was … so close yet so far. The overall look is good, but there are visible halos between CK’s legs and the railings, the O2 pylons come into focus some of the time when he moves his head in front of them, and the river occasionally comes into focus when he opens his arms:
To be fair, CK argues that the average person viewing the video isn’t going to see the problem. If they are neither a filmmaker nor a techie familiar with the way the feature works, they probably won’t even notice the issues, and it won’t bother them if they do. I suspect he may well be right.
But it does bother me, and I think anyone with even amateur filmmaking ambitions will share my frustration – and that’s precisely the target market for the feature.
As I said at the outset, my frustration isn’t because the feature is bad, but rather because I genuinely believe that it could be dramatically better if Apple took full advantage of the power of the current generation of iPhone chips and the neural processing capabilities they possess. Indeed, I would expect a properly updated version of Cinematic mode to be able to cope with significantly more challenging environments than this.
Do you agree with my assessment, and would you like Apple to show cinematic mode some love? Please share your thoughts in the comments.