What is Apple’s Photonic Engine all about?

Apple’s iPhone 14 series announcement came full of surprises. With so many odd Apple terms thrown around, we can understand how things can get a bit confusing. One feature you might not fully understand is Apple’s new Photonic Engine. Let’s talk about it!

Since Apple’s Photonic Engine is an evolution of Deep Fusion, we must first talk about its predecessor. Apple introduced Deep Fusion with the iPhone 11 series. It’s Apple’s way of handling image processing in darker environments. It retains textures, makes images sharper, improves lighting, and makes color reproduction better.

Apple’s Deep Fusion does this by shooting nine images in total. The phone will capture four before you press the shutter button. The camera will then shoot another four photos and a longer exposure image. All these images will then be compiled and merged, creating a single image with all the best parts of all the pictures taken. The neural engine will work pixel by pixel to guarantee maximum quality.

Apple’s “new” technology seems to be the same concept as Deep Fusion, but extended. The main difference is that the process will begin “much earlier in the process, on uncompressed images.” Apple claims this will improve detail, color, and exposure in low-light situations.

Apple states this technology makes images in low light two times better on all secondary cameras and up to three times better on the main one.

So, it’s pretty much like HDR photography?

Photography enthusiasts and techies will probably realize this sounds much like HDR (High Dynamic Range). In HDR photography, a photographer will shoot the same frame at multiple exposure levels. These photos can then be merged using specialized software, and the result will be an image with more details in the shadows and highlights. You can learn more about this in our HDR guide.

While Apple is pretty much using the same process as HDR, the technique is not quite the same. HDR focuses mainly on improving exposure and contrast. Apple’s Photonic Engine does a bit more, looking into things like sharpness, detail, color, motion blur, and more.

If you’re lost about some of these terms, we also have a list of the most important photography terms to learn.

You can’t turn Photonic Engine on or off manually. The camera software will decide to use it during low-light and mid-light situations, when it deems it necessary. The same was the case with Deep Fusion, and it was a decision made by Apple to avoid people having to pick and choose how to take better images. Apple wants the iPhone to do all the deciding so that all you have to do is press the shutter button. It’s part of the whole “it just works” philosophy.

Does it replace Night Mode?

Photonic Engine is a technology that improves general images. It will likely be activated on most photo shots, especially if they include at least some darker areas. Night Mode focuses on making very dark images brighter. Some of its processes and features might overlap, but we can say Night Mode is for much darker areas needing more help. The process is slower, but it can usually pull up more exposure. As such, Photonic Engine and Night Mode will live together in the iPhone photo experience, at least for now.

While Apple makes the feature sound new and exciting, it’s a technique that’s been around in the Android ecosystem. One of the most obvious examples is Google’s AI camera, found on its Pixel devices, including the Pixel 6 series. Google’s AI camera has a technique they call “optical flow.” Optical flow can shoot over 12 images in rapid succession and then combine them into a single, improved photo.