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Posts Tagged ‘Apple’

Apple patents correction system for smartphone accessory lenses

26 Jul

Accessory lenses for smartphones can be useful tools for expanding the photographic capabilities of your device. However, the process of physically attaching these lenses to the smartphone and centering them above the camera lens is prone to minor but important error as even a slight misalignment can result in a drop in image quality. Additionally, the accessory lens’ optical design can have a detrimental effect on the image output.

Apple has now been granted a patent that aims to fix the problem using a two-pronged approach: by using correction software and a movable built-in camera lens.

The document describes camera hardware and an analysis and processing software that can be used to analyze image quality and detect problems potentially caused by add-on lenses. By looking at certain image metrics, the system could compare image quality before and after attaching an accessory lens and then use software algorithms to correct accordingly.

Additionally, actuators would allow to change the position of the built-in camera lens on multiple axes, in order to correct for any misalignment of the accessory lens. This could include tilting the camera and varying the distance between the built-in lens and accessory lens.

The patent suggests electronics, magnets and radio sensing among other methods to detect if an accessory lens has been attached. If the smartphone knows what exact accessory is being used, additional options in the camera app could be utilized as well.

As usual, there is no way of knowing if and when this system will make it into a production device but it certainly looks like it could make the use of accessory lenses more appealing to many of us.

You can find the complete patent document on the USPTO website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Blackmagic external GPU for MacBook Pro now available from Apple

14 Jul

Australian digital cinema company Blackmagic recently worked with Apple to develop Blackmagic eGPU, an external GPU that brings “desktop-class graphics performance” to the new MacBook Pro laptops with Thunderbolt 3 ports.

The Blackmagic eGPU features an AMD Radeon Pro 580 graphics processor with 8GB of GDDR5 memory, one HDMI 2.0 port, four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and an 85W power supply. Thunderbolt 3 provides a 40Gb/s connection over a single cable, enabling rapid data transfers between the external graphics processor and MacBook Pro.

Graphics performance speed improvements depend on the laptop model; The Verge reports that the 13-inch MacBook Pro experiences an 8x boost, while the 15-inch model experiences a 2.8x increase.

As a first for external GPUs, the eGPU’s second Thunderbolt 3 port provides optional connectivity with the LG UltraFine 5K Display, the model Apple offers directly, and other Thunderbolt 3 displays. A second monitor can be connected via the HDMI port; peripherals, such as a mouse and keyboard, can be plugged into the eGPU’s USB hub.

Users must be running macOS 10.13.6 High Sierra or later to use the Blackmagic eGPU. Apple is exclusively offering the device through some of its retail stores and online for $ 699 USD.

Via: The Verge

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple ceases Photo Print Products, recommends third-party apps

14 Jul

If you use Apple’s photo printing service you’ll have to find yourself a replacement soon, as Apple is in the process of discontinuing the service. Photo Print Products was originally launched for Mac users in 2002 and first integrated into iPhoto, letting you order photo prints, albums, photo books, and calendars among other products. Later it made the move to the Photos app but was never available on the iOS mobile operating system.

It appears that not enough people were using the service. According to a message in macOS 10.13.6 Photos app final orders for Photo Print Products will have to be placed by September 30, 2018.

Luckily, Apple doesn’t leave you without any printing options. The company recommends the use of third-party apps that include a Photos Projects extension. The latter is an API that was introduced with macOS High Sierra and lets photo printing services integrate their user interface into the Apple Photos app. Payment and printing are handled by the third-party provider. Currently the API is used by apps such as Mimeo Photos, Wix, GoodTimes, WhiteWall and Shutterfly.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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More powerful notebooks from Apple in the MacBook Pro line

14 Jul

Apple has updated its MacBook Pro series of notebooks with 15in and 13in models that are claimed to be better for intense image and video editing. The company says the new models are the most advanced ever, and that they feature 8th generation Intel Core processors for faster performance. The 15in model runs 70% faster than its predecessor with its new 6-core processor, while the 13in model sports a 4-core processor that makes it twice as fast as the previous generation.

The 15in model’s memory boosted to 32GB and can accommodate a 4TB SSD card for storage. The 13in model can cope with 2TB of SSD. Both models offer a 500-nit Retina screen that Apple says is the best MacBook display to date, and which is compatible with the P3 wide gamut color space.

The new MacBook Pro models will cost $ 1799 and $ 2399. For more information see the Apple website.

Press release

Apple updates MacBook Pro with faster performance and new features for pros

Now Featuring Up to 6-Core Processors and 32GB of Memory, True Tone Display and the Apple T2 Chip

The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar deliver more power to pro users.

Cupertino, California — Apple today updated MacBook Pro with faster performance and new pro features, making it the most advanced Mac notebook ever. The new MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar feature 8th-generation Intel Core processors, with 6-core on the 15-inch model for up to 70 percent faster performance and quad-core on the 13-inch model for up to two times faster performance — ideal for manipulating large data sets, performing complex simulations, creating multi-track audio projects or doing advanced image processing or film editing.

Already the most popular notebook for developers around the world, the new MacBook Pro can compile code faster and run multiple virtual machines and test environments easier than before. Additional updates include support for up to 32GB of memory, a True Tone display and an improved third-generation keyboard for quieter typing. And with its powerful Radeon Pro graphics, large Force Touch trackpad, revolutionary Touch Bar and Touch ID, dynamic stereo speakers, quiet Apple-designed cooling system and Thunderbolt 3 for data transfer, charging and connecting up to two 5K displays or four external GPUs, it’s the ultimate pro notebook.

MacBook Pro now delivers faster performance for complex simulations and data manipulation.

“The latest generation MacBook Pro is the fastest and most powerful notebook we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Now with 8th-generation 6-core processors, up to 32GB of system memory, up to 4TB of super fast SSD storage, new True Tone technology in its Retina display and Touch Bar, the Apple T2 chip for enhanced security and a third-generation quieter keyboard packed into its thin and light aluminum design with all-day battery life, it’s the best notebook for pro users.”
Faster, More Powerful Pro Notebook Computing

With the new MacBook Pro, developers can compile code faster and more easily run multiple virtual machines and test environments.

The new MacBook Pro is now faster and more powerful, with 8th-generation 6-core Intel Core processors on the 15-inch MacBook Pro for up to 70 percent faster performance and 8th-generation quad-core Intel Core processors on the 13-inch model for performance that’s up to twice as fast.1 With the option to add up to 32GB of memory on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, users can run more apps simultaneously or load larger files into memory. And with up to a 2TB SSD on the 13-inch model and up to a 4TB SSD on the 15-inch, MacBook Pro gives customers the flexibility to work with large asset libraries and projects wherever they go.

Best Mac notebook display ever now features True Tone technology for a more natural viewing experience.

With 500 nits of brightness and support for the P3 wide color gamut, the Retina display on MacBook Pro is the best Mac notebook display ever. Now with True Tone technology, the display and Touch Bar deliver a more natural viewing experience for design and editing workflows, as well as everyday tasks like browsing the web and writing email.

Apple T2 Chip Delivers Enhanced Security and “Hey Siri” on Mac

Also new to MacBook Pro is the Apple T2 chip, first introduced in iMac Pro. With the Apple T2 chip, MacBook Pro now delivers enhanced system security with support for secure boot and on-the-fly encrypted storage, and also brings “Hey Siri” to the Mac for the first time.

15-Inch MacBook Pro Highlights

  • 6-core Intel Core i7 and Core i9 processors up to 2.9 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.8 GHz
  • Up to 32GB of DDR4 memory
  • Powerful Radeon Pro discrete graphics with 4GB of video memory in every configuration
  • Up to 4TB of SSD storage2
  • True Tone display technology
  • Apple T2 Chip
  • Touch Bar and Touch ID

13-Inch MacBook Pro Highlights

  • Quad-core Intel Core i5 and i7 processors up to 2.7 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.5 GHz and double the eDRAM
  • Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics 655 with 128MB of eDRAM
  • Up to 2TB of SSD storage2
  • True Tone display technology
  • Apple T2 Chip
  • Touch Bar and Touch ID

Back to School with MacBook Pro

The new MacBook Pro is also part of Apple’s Back to School promotion starting today and available to college students, their parents, faculty and staff through the Apple Education Store. The promotion includes a pair of qualifying Beats headphones with the purchase of any eligible Mac or iPad Pro for college, as well as education pricing on Mac, iPad Pro, AppleCare, select accessories and more.

New Leather Sleeves for MacBook Pro

New MacBook Pro leather sleeves now available in Saddle Brown, Midnight Blue and Black.
First introduced with MacBook, Apple leather sleeves are now available for the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro in Saddle Brown, Midnight Blue and, for the first time, Black. Designed with high-quality leather and a soft microfiber lining for extra protection, the sleeves are a perfect complement to MacBook Pro for users on the go.

macOS Mojave Coming This Fall

This fall, MacBook Pro can be updated with macOS Mojave, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, with new features inspired by pros but designed for everyone. In macOS Mojave, a new Dark Mode transforms the desktop with a dramatic new look that puts the focus on user content. The new Stacks feature organizes messy desktops by automatically stacking files into neat groups. Familiar iOS apps, including News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home, are now available on the Mac for the first time. FaceTime now adds support for group calling, and the Mac App Store gets a full redesign featuring rich editorial content and the addition of apps from top developers, including Microsoft and Adobe.

Pricing and Availability

Starting at $ 1,799 and $ 2,399 respectively, the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar are available today through apple.com and in select Apple retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers later this week. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at apple.com/mac.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple launches service program for MacBooks affected by keyboard issues, offers free repairs

25 Jun
RawPixel/Unsplash

Apple has launched a new service program for select MacBook and MacBook Pros potentially affected by a keyboard issue that results in sticky, unresponsive keys and repeated characters when typing.

The service program comes after three separate class action lawsuits were filed against the Cupertino company for issues related to MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboards.

In a statement provided to 9to5Mac by an Apple spokesperson, the program ‘covers a small percentage of keyboards in certain MacBook and MacBook Pro models which may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors: letters or characters that repeat unexpectedly or don’t appear when pressed or keys that feel “sticky” or aren’t responding in a consistent manner.’

If believe your MacBook or MacBook Pro is being affected by the above issues, the first step is to check whether or not your model is part of the service program. To do this, go into the Apple (?) menu in the upper-left-hand corner of your Mac and select ‘About This Mac.’ Below are the eligible models:

  • MacBook (Retina, 12-­inch, Early 2015)
  • MacBook (Retina, 12­-inch, Early 2016)
  • MacBook (Retina, 12-­inch, 2017)
  • MacBook Pro (13­-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
  • MacBook Pro (13-­inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
  • MacBook Pro (13-­inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
  • MacBook Pro (13-­inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
  • MacBook Pro (15-­inch, 2016)
  • MacBook Pro (15-­inch, 2017)

If your MacBook or MacBook Pro is one of the above models and is experiencing keyboard issues, the next step is to set up the repair process. You can have the repair done at an Apple authorized service provider, make an appointment at an Apple retail store, or mail in your computer to Apple’s repair center.

Before any repairs are made, Apple will verify whether anything needs to be fixed. If it does, Apple will ‘service [the] eligible MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboards, free of charge.’ The repairs will consist of either replacing the affected keys or potentially replacing the keyboard as a whole if required.

You can find more details on how to get your device repaired by going to Apple’s documentation page detailing the service program.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple releases four new iPhone X mobile photography video tutorials

20 Jun

Apple released a new batch of mobile photography tutorial videos this week, each briefly demonstrating how to perform various camera actions using the flagship iPhone X. The OLED-equipped iPhone X features dual rear 12MP cameras coupled with optical image stabilization and optical zoom.

The four new videos were published on June 14 and guide iPhone X users through the following functions: shooting with the backlight, shooting in burst mode, recording in slow motion, and creating panoramas.

Apple semi-regularly updates video tutorials for its products, and previously released a batch of similar mobile photography instructional videos for the iPhone 8. A full playlist of Apple’s mobile photography video tutorials, including those covering older iPhone models, is available here. The four newest videos are below.

Via: Light Stalking

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple is quietly introducing new features, improved support for RAW photos in iOS 12

08 Jun

It wasn’t one of the standout details featured on stage at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) earlier this week, but improved RAW photo support is coming to the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 12.

Apple doesn’t seem to have many details on what new features or functionality will be included in the final version of iOS 12, set to be released later this year. But with a little digging through the iOS 12 developers beta on a 12.9” iPad Pro, we’ve been able to discover a handful of improvements.

As of iOS 12 Beta 1, most of the changes appear to be related to the import workflow.

Now, when you plug in Apple’s SD card to Lightning adapter (or camera connection kit), the Photos app will show up as an overlay on whatever app you’re using. This comes as a much less invasive method than previously used in iOS 11, wherein whatever app you were in would be switched over to the full-screen Photos app for importing. It also means you can multitask more efficiently, importing photos while getting other stuff done.

As for the import module, at surface level it doesn’t appear as though much has changed. But thanks to a few UI changes, importing photos and videos has become a lot easier and has taken out a lot of the guesswork previously required.

Now, when photos are detected on a card, iOS 12 will automatically sort through the content and determine if any of the photos have already been imported. If they have, they will be put in a separate area so you don’t accidentally import duplicates. Another new feature is a counter on the top of the screen that lasts you know how many photos are being displayed and how much space they take up on the memory card. This should help alleviate the guesswork involved when trying to determine whether or not you have enough storage on your iOS device.

The importing progress bar can be seen in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen.

There’s also a new progress circle that appears when importing. If you tap it as photos are being imported, you’ll get a counter that shows how many photos have been importing out of the number you’ve selected.

One of the most welcomed new features we’ve come across is the ability to preview your photos full-screen. Before iOS 12, you could only see small thumbnails of photos when importing, which made it all but impossible to select a particular image in a sequence if there wasn’t much visual difference. Now, you can pinch out on a thumbnail and see a full-size preview.

The full-screen preview makes it easier to choose between similar images.

The last improvement we noticed was in importing speed. In testing, we noticed a rather drastic improvement in how fast photos transferred from an SD card to the iPad Pro. Based off 25MB RAW files, imported using Apple’s latest SD card to Lightning adapter, the transfer rate jumped from 1.2 seconds per photo on iOS 11 to approximately 0.8 seconds per photo on iOS 12 Beta 1. We’re not sure what particular magic is going on here, but that’s a 33% improvement.

As future iOS 12 betas are launched, it’s inevitable more features will be brought to light. If we come across anything else in the meantime, we’ll update this article accordingly. If you notice something we missed, be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple improves photo search and sharing, adds Camera Effects in iOS 12

06 Jun

At its WWDC developer conference in San Jose, Apple has showcased the beta version of its iOS 12 mobile operating system, which will be officially released this fall. And the new software comes with a few imaging-related improvements.

Photo search has been updated and now comes with search suggestions. If you are searching a photo on your device, even before you start typing, you’ll see suggestions for recent events you have attended, people you have photographed, and places you have been to. The suggestions are refined as you start typing and search results get even more precise if you use multiple keywords.

Photo sharing has been overhauled as well and the camera roll now features a new ‘For You’ tab. In the latter the best moments and events from your photo library are displayed. If people are detected in your images, the system suggests sharing the image with them. If your contacts are running iOS 12, they’ll also be prompted to share their photos from the same events with you.

Lastly, there is Camera Effects. This new feature allows you to create and share images and videos, directly in the Messages and FaceTime cameras, using Animoji, Memoji, filters, animated text effects, stickers, and other effects.

For a full list of all new features in iOS 12 head over to the Apple website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Latest Apple ad: iPhone Portrait Lighting is a ‘studio in your pocket’

20 May

No matter your attitude towards Apple and its products, it’s probably fair to say the company’s iPhone ads are among the more visually pleasing and entertaining commercials we get to see on TV or online. And like many recent ads, Apple’s latest clip is related to its smartphone’s photography capabilities.

The ad—titled ‘Studio in your pocket’—promotes the iPhone X and 8 Portrait Lighting feature. In the ad, a woman pulls out her iPhone to take a selfie in a train station when all sorts of studio lights, umbrellas and softboxes materialize out of nowhere around her—emphasizing one of the iPhone’s most distinguishing photography features.

Despite some manufacturers now offering similar functions, Portrait Lighting is still pretty much exclusive to Apple devices. It works on both front and main cameras (on the iPhone X, only rear on the iPhone 8 Plus and below) and applies computational effects to a subject that aim to simulate lighting effects you could achieve in a studio with proper lighting equipment. The effects can be applied at capture or later during editing. Options include Natural Light, Studio Light, Contour Light, Stage Light and Stage Light Mono.

You can read more about the feature in our iPhone X review or watch a tutorial here, and while it is most certainly not equal to a bunch of softboxes, umbrellas, or other professional lighting equipment, the feature is impressive in its own right.

Have you used Apple’s Portrait Lighting? Do you think the results can compare to the real thing? Let us know in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple patent describes dual-live-view for dual-camera smartphones

12 May

A new patent application from Apple describes an interesting, alternative approach to displaying live view images from dual-camera-equipped smartphones when you’re trying to frame a shot.

On Apple’s current dual-camera phones—the iPhones 7 Plus, 8 Plus and X—the image data from both sensors is merged computationally to provide a seamless zoom experience. The end user can’t tell if they’re looking at a live-view image captured by the main camera, by the tele-camera, or a combination of both. The concept is the same for tele-camera phones from most other manufacturers.

The system described in the patent works differently. It shows the images from both cameras simultaneously, side-by-side. This would allow users to compare the field-of-view of both lenses, and pick the one they prefer.

According to the patent, the dual-view mode would allow for independent zooming and panning of each camera view. In theory, the photographer could take two photos simultaneously, each with different zoom factor and framing. The system would work in the same way in video mode, letting the shooter focus on a particular detail of a scene while simultaneously recording the wider context.

As usual, there is no way of knowing if this idea will ever make it into a production device, especially since the current way of dealing with dual-camera live images is arguably easier and clearer to most users. But as a user-selectable alternative mode, the system described in the patent application actually makes a lot of sense.

Let us know what you think of this idea in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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