The Evolution Of The iPhone's Camera From 2007 To 2025

Feels like a long time ago when Steve Jobs stood on that Apple Event stage and introduced the world's first iPhone. This wasn't just an important moment in the iPhone's history, but a moment that revolutionized the world of tech. 

18 years later, first iPhone is a pretty nostalgic device in many regards. Its tiny 2 MP camera was something we loved to use, at least if when we couldn't get our hands on a real camera. However, fast forward to today, and years of innovation and development have produced what now rivals a real camera. Modern iPhone cameras are nothing short of mind-blowing. But how did they get here? Stick with us to find out as we take a look at the evolution of the iPhone camera from 2007 to 2025.

The first iPhone is iconic and, without a doubt, one of the pivotal landmarks of the digital age. However, when the OG iPhone debuted, it offered very little in the way of camera quality. It was fitted with a pretty basic 2 MP camera that didn't have a lot of the features we enjoy today. Features such as auto-focus, flash, and even video were absent. There was no front camera. All you could do with the camera was take a picture. And even then, you did not have the zoom or editing features that we do today. The camera did come with geotagging capabilities. But on a phone with a 412MHz processor and a 3.5-inch display, what you see is what you get.

The second iPhone release brought exciting upgrades. As advertised in its name, the iPhone 3G introduced a 3G network. It also introduced navigation, new software, and enabled third-party software use by the App Store. So, lots of big changes. When it came to the camera, though, upgrades were nonexistent, at least initially.

In our review of the iPhone 3G, we lamented how Apple retained the same 2 MP camera as the original. This was a letdown, as rival products were already at 5 MP. There was also still no flash, zoom, or video recording. The photo quality was decent at best in low light and very poor in low light settings. Later on, the 3GS was introduced. Thankfully, it featured upgrades, including a 3 MP camera, autofocus, and video recording.

Apple finally caught up with its competitors in 2010 with the iPhone 4. Firstly, it introduced the front camera, which wasn't great at only 0.3 MP. This didn't matter, however, to FaceTimers and selfie enthusiasts who squeezed as much juice out of it as they could. The front camera will also remain iconic for forever changing how we communicate and take pictures on an iPhone.

The rear camera of the iPhone 4 represented a quantum leap forward with its 5 MP sensor. There was a flash with this, and not just a regular flash, an LED flash. It supported video recording in HD with 720p at 30 fps. In many ways, the iPhone 4 represents what we recognize in today's iPhones. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the camera design and features.

The iPhone 4 succeeded in introducing new dimensions to Apple's flagship product. Then, in 2011, the iPhone 4S extended these dimensions, as you will see in our extensive review. When it came to the camera, 3 MP was added to the rear camera, taking it up to 8 MP. There was an improved lens as well as an f/2.4 aperture, which improved on the iPhone 4's low-light photo quality.

Video recording quality was upgraded to Full HD 1080p at 30 fps. This was a perfect compliment to the improved autofocus mechanism that was faster and more accurate than ever. Audio quality and video stabilization also got a boost to ensure a complete upgrade to the rear camera was realized. Not even the unchanged 0.3 MP front camera could rub the 4s of its undeniable shine.

Apple's upgrade momentum somewhat slowed with the iPhone 5. The headline of its camera upgrades was the introduction of panorama mode with iOS 6. The company also paid closer attention to the phone's low light performance, improving lens performance and durability. The front camera got a decent boost to 1.2 MP. It also premiered 720p HD video recording for video selfies and improved FaceTime quality.

The iPhone 5s had an unchanged 8 MP rear, but it slightly improved on the aperture. There was the introduction of true tone dual LED flash and slow-motion video recording. Slo-Mo recording was a big deal at 120 fps. It also introduced "Burst Mode," which allowed users to capture a rapid series of photos, a feature that is retained today by recent iPhones. The iPhone 5c left the camera unchanged, save for the abandonment of the true tone flash.

The 2014 release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was when Apple's iPhone truly planted its flag firmly in our everyday lives, and it has never been uprooted since. When the company promoted the phone, it advertised it as a big development. And that is exactly what we got.

Not only did the new models satisfy consumer demands for larger phones, but they also satisfied a lot of technical requirements for the phone geeks. However, the camera was a bit left out of these technical improvements. It retained the 8 MP rear camera and 1.2 MP front camera with upgrades to video resolution in both normal and slo-mo mode. Burst mode was also extended to cover selfies with the front camera. Aside from that, there were no notable upgrades on the five series.

A year later, Apple released the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, finally revealing all its cards when it came to the camera. Among the most notable changes was that the rear camera's megapixel count was finally bumped to 12. Then, there was the introduction of 4K video recording at 30 fps, making it the first iPhone to boast this capability. Apple also implemented Live Photos, a feature that has become a mainstay of the camera ever since.

There were also upgrades to HDR, panorama, and autofocus to create sharper, smoother, and more stable video quality. The front camera also got a significant glow of up to 5 MP. It also introduced retina flash, which used the screen's display to boost low-light selfies. The 6s Plus further changed the video stabilization from digital to optical. The iPhone SE was a budget version that got lost in the period between the iPhone 6's success and the Phone 7's introduction. Its camera featured no upgrades on the 6s and 6s Plus.

When the iPhone 7's features dropped, its continued use of the 12 MP camera seemed like it would result in lackluster upgrades — this was not the case. The first thing you notice on the iPhone 7's camera is that it has a Quad-LED True Tone Flash, meaning four LEDs to stave off low light issues. The camera also introduced time-lapse video recording for the first time on an iPhone.

The iPhone 7 Plus was the first to introduce a dual camera, and we saw why. It sported two zoom upgrades with twice the optical zoom for its telephoto lens. It also upgraded the digital zoom, giving you up to 10 times the zoom for photos and six times the zoom for videos. What's more, the 7 Plus was the first camera to get the iPhone's Portrait Mode. The front camera was not left out, getting a boost to 7 MP while also being Live Photo supported. Without a doubt, the iPhone 7 Plus camera upgrade was worth every penny of its price.

In 2017, Apple released the iPhone 8 as well as 8 Plus and, with them, took the camera game up a notch. Video quality was the theme of this camera upgrade. The A11 Bionic Chip-based phones could process images faster and better than ever before. The camera of the iPhone 8 had a 12 MP resolution.

The iPhone 8 Plus had a dual rear camera, meaning two 12 MP lenses. The cameras both introduced Slow Sync, which was Apple's latest way of boosting low-light photo and video quality. The sensors were upgraded to be bigger and faster. This meant you could record a 4K video at up to 60 fps or a 1080p Slow-Mo video at up to 240 fps. The 8 Plus extended the capabilities of Portrait Mode by introducing various lighting effects.

Few phones are as iconic as Apple's iPhone X. In celebration of its 10-year anniversary, Apple released its most innovative and transformative iPhone yet. It is not exaggerating to say the iPhone X changed everything — it was an industry-defining device few brands have been able to replicate.

The design of the X's camera is as iconic as the phone itself, with its vertical dual camera setup that gives the phone's top left a nice bump. This was a departure from the horizontal dual camera setup of previous iPhone models and was the start of the iPhone's new camera design direction. The camera itself shared a lot of the features with the iPhone 8 series. There were, however, notable minor adjustments, such as an improved telephoto lens, more natural camera lighting, and Portrait Mode for the front camera.

One year later, Apple introduced three variations of the X series in a "cut your coat according to your size" manner. The XR, XS, and XS Max are all iPhone greats in their own right. Starting with the iPhone XR — this was the SE version of the iPhone X, if that makes sense. It was the budget option of the series for users. Its camera's design was different than the others, sporting a single camera rather than a dual one. But in terms of features, it retains pretty much all the X has but with reduced Portrait Mode capabilities thanks to its single camera setup. However, the iPhone XS and XS Max added Stage Light to the Portrait Mode Lighting options. They also brought Smart HDR, which added depth to the quality of images.

The iPhone 11 introduced loads of new features and extended the capabilities of existing ones. Its design was adjusted to a square model even though it was still a dual camera. The rear camera resolution was still pegged at 12 MP. However, the front camera got a boost to match.

With this new 12 MP front camera, 4K video recording was possible, along with Smart HDR, Slo-Mo, and Portrait Lighting to match that of the rear. It also introduced Night Mode, further illustrating Apple's commitment to providing the best low-lighting quality. The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max didn't hold back, with the latter easily being one of the most extravagant phones ever. They also used the square model design, only this time it used a triple camera set up. They retained all the new and existing features present in the 11. Where they did differ was with the introduction of Deep Fusion, a 4x optical zoom range, and QuickTake.

The iPhone 12 and 12 Mini emulated the same dual camera in a square module setup of the iPhone 11. The big changes in these cameras included Smart HDR 3, Dolby Vision HDR, and an extended Night Mode to cover both its wide and ultra-wide lenses. The front camera included all these. But, notably, the Night Mode and Deep Fusion additions were the first time they had featured on the front camera.

The LiDAR Scanner was the iPhone 12 Pro's big camera addition. This simply improves the autofocus of the camera in low light. It also enables advanced AR features, such as boosting Night Mode portraits. The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max further introduced ProRAW. This feature allows photographers to capture authentic images using Apple's computational photography.

Providing similar performance in a budget-friendly frame, the 2020 iPhone SE felt like an old and familiar friend. This is likely due to its combination of the iPhone 8 hardware and the A13 Bionic chip of the iPhone 11. Like the first generation SE, this device featured a simplified camera. It had a 12 MP rear camera and a 7 MP front camera. The rear camera used the same sensor as the iPhone 8's. It also featured Portrait Mode, Smart HDR, and QuickTake. The front camera inherited all the Portrait Mode and Smart HDR capabilities of the rear one. However, it has limited video recording quality to 1080p at 30 fps as opposed to the rear camera's 4K at up to 60 fps abilities.

The iPhone 13 was when Apple's camera game began to venture into professional-grade camera territory. At the heart of this was the introduction of Cinematic Mode. Cinematic Mode was and is still a game-changer. It brought a depth-of-field effect to the camera that you only find on top-grade Nikon cameras and so on. What's more, is it featured on both the rear and front cameras.

Aside from this, the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini retained the wide and ultra-wide lenses. The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max versions have this as well as a telephoto lens. They also introduced macro photography which allowed a detailed focus of small objects at up to 2cm. The phones also retained and improved upon its key features, including Smart HDR 4, Deep Fusion, and Portrait Mode.

The third and latest generation of the iPhone SE continues the SE's legacy of providing compact power-packed devices for those on a budget. At the core of this device is the iPhone 13's A15 Bionic chip. This is housed by an aerospace-grade aluminum frame with a glass front and back. The camera itself is a single lens with a 12 MP resolution.

The single lens means it only sports the wide lens and not the ultrawide or telephoto ones of its more expensive two or three-lens counterparts. Cinematic Mode is absent here, which is unsurprising. But, Smart HDR 4, Deep Fusion, and Portrait Mode are all present here. In truth, making a decision between the iPhone SE and the iPhone 13 is not an easy one.

When it came to camera resolution and processing, the iPhone 14 Pro represented a huge leap forward, even compared to the base model 14 and 14 Plus. Focusing on the camera, the models were all pretty similar, but there was an exciting strangeness to what the Pro versions offered.

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus retained the usual 12 MP dual-camera system. The Pro enhanced this with the introduction of a new 48 MP main sensor. Without a doubt, the 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max were way more advanced, giving us five new core features. There was the new Photonic Engine, Action Mode, Cinematic Mode in 4K, 48 MP ProRAW, and Autofocus for the front camera.

The iPhone 15 picked up right where the 14 Pro left off. It became the first base iPhone model to feature a 48 MP camera, a four-fold increase from all the base models dating back to 2016's iPhone 7. The caveat was, however, that the iPhone 15's main camera took 24 MP photos by default. The ultra wide camera's resolution was also still set at the default 12 MP.

The phone also introduced Smart HDR 5 and Next-Generation Portraits. The former aimed to produce more natural images, while the latter allowed for automatic depth sensing, meaning you could use portrait effects without manually setting it up. In our review of the iPhone 15 Pro, we found it retained and improved on the LiDAR Scanner and ProRAW, and added a 5x optical zoom.

The current king of Apple's flagship product is the iPhone 16 series. These models are state of the art in many regards, and the camera is certainly one of them. The base and Plus models introduced a 48 MP Fusion camera to replace the wide lens one. It does, however, retain the 12 MP ultra-wide lens with improved aperture and macro photography abilities.

The iPhone 16 Pro models have been fitted with the 48 MP ultra-wide camera for the first time. This works in hand with its 48 MP Fusion lens, and 5x telephoto lens. This means it should be able to capture super high-resolution photos. There is also the second generation sensor shift optical image stabilization to give users GoPro camera levels of stability for clearer shots.