Apple explains why you should shoot 24MP images using iPhone 15 Pro

Apple launched the iPhone 15 Pro series consisting of the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max last week. While the iPhone 15 Pro series comes with a 48MP primary camera at the back, Apple has capped the default camera resolution at 24MP. That might seem a bit odd to some users at first, but as it turns out there is a plausible reason for it and it has something to do with the camera efficiency.

Apple’s Vice President of Camera Software Engineering, Jon McCormack, in an interview with PetaPixel said that while iPhone 15 Pro users can click images with a resolution of 48MP, the company has capped the default resolution at 24MP to improve the dynamic range and shutter response of the camera. The Apple executive said that shooting images at 24MP resolution gives users a little bit more dynamic range. It also gives photographer zero shutter lag. On the contrary, clicking images at a 48MP resolution includes some shutter lag.

“You get a little bit more dynamic range in the 24-megapixel photos,” McCormack explains. “Because when shooting at 24-megapixels, we shoot 12 high and 12 low — we actually shoot multiple of those — and we pick and then merge. There is, basically, a bigger bracket between the 12 high and the 12 low. Then, the 48 is an ‘extended dynamic range,’ versus ‘high dynamic range,’ which basically just limits the amount of processing. Because just in the little bit of processing time available [in the 24 megapixel] we can get a bit more dynamic range into Deep Fusion. So, what you end up with in the 24, it’s a bit of a ‘Goldilocks moment’ of you get all of the extra dynamic range that comes from the 12 and the detail transfer that comes in from the 48,” McCormack told the publication.

But if you want to click images with at a 48MP resolution? What do you do then?

Thankfully, Apple provides easy control that enable users to easily switch between 24MP camera resolution to 48MP camera resolution. Here is how you can do so.

How to switch between 24MP to 48MP camera mode in iPhone 15 Pro

Step 1: Go to the Settings app on your iPhone 15 Pro.
Step 2: Then scroll down to the Camera option and tap it.
Step 3: Tap the Formats option.
Step 4: Tap the Photo Mode.
Step 5: Choose 12MP or 24MP.