Apple iPhone 8 Will Reportedly Shoot 4K60 UHD Video With Both Front And Rear Cameras
Remember when mobile phones were used primarily for making actual voice calls while on the go? Pshaw! These days we use our handsets for all kinds of things, and for some, they are used most often for snapping pictures and recording videos. Smartphone makers have responded by using higher quality camera sensors, and with the iPhone 8 that is just around the bend, there is evidence to suggest that both the front and rear cameras will be able to record 4K resolution video at 60 frames per second.
Apple has not said a peep about the iPhone 8's camera capabilities, though the possible upgrade in functionality was discovered by digging through lines of code in an internal version of iOS 11 (specifically, version 11.0.2). Granted, things could change between now and the time it releases, but if not, it looks like 4K video recording will be a point of focus on the iPhone 8.
You can see above the lines of code that reference 4K video at 60fps indicated by the following:
What is interesting here is that Apple managed to find a way to record video at 4K using the front camera. Existing hardware has not really been up to the task so far. Looking at the code, it appears that Apple will lean on HEVC to help with things, though it is not entirely clear how Apple is managing to 4K through a front shooter.
We should not overlook the rear camera, either. While 4K recording is becoming standard fare, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus top out at 30 frames per second when recording 4K video using the rear shooter. The iPhone 8 looks to be bumping things up to 60 fps.
Camera performance is one of several upgrades we are expecting from Apple. Naturally the iPhone will inevitably feature faster CPU and GPU performance, as is always the case when introducing a new iPhone model, but it's also rumored to be implementing an OLED display, possibly with an integrated Touch ID sensor. 3D facial recognition and wireless charging support could be part of the package, too.
Apple has not said a peep about the iPhone 8's camera capabilities, though the possible upgrade in functionality was discovered by digging through lines of code in an internal version of iOS 11 (specifically, version 11.0.2). Granted, things could change between now and the time it releases, but if not, it looks like 4K video recording will be a point of focus on the iPhone 8.
You can see above the lines of code that reference 4K video at 60fps indicated by the following:
-[CAMCaptureCapabilities is4K60VideoSupportedForDevice:]There are several other references to 4K video at 60fps on the front and back camera contained throughout the block of code above, all of which are referencing the "2017iPhone," which presumably is the iPhone 8 that Apple will unveil this September or October.
-[CAMCaptureCapabilities isBack4K60VideoSupported]
-[CAMCaptureCapabilities isFront4K60VideoSupported]
What is interesting here is that Apple managed to find a way to record video at 4K using the front camera. Existing hardware has not really been up to the task so far. Looking at the code, it appears that Apple will lean on HEVC to help with things, though it is not entirely clear how Apple is managing to 4K through a front shooter.
We should not overlook the rear camera, either. While 4K recording is becoming standard fare, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus top out at 30 frames per second when recording 4K video using the rear shooter. The iPhone 8 looks to be bumping things up to 60 fps.
Camera performance is one of several upgrades we are expecting from Apple. Naturally the iPhone will inevitably feature faster CPU and GPU performance, as is always the case when introducing a new iPhone model, but it's also rumored to be implementing an OLED display, possibly with an integrated Touch ID sensor. 3D facial recognition and wireless charging support could be part of the package, too.
