ProRaw: See how the new Apple iOS 14.3 trick turned my photos on iPhone 12

With iOS 14.3 release, iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max get the new Apple raw photo format called ProRaw. The new file allows you to customize a raw file built on top of your iPhone’s smart cameras. In the last few weeks, I’ve been testing the new feature and I’m impressed with how ProRaw turned my photo on my phone. ProRaw is an addition as significant to the camera as the faster-opening lens that Apple has added to the main cameras in the iPhone 12 family and the new sensor-based stabilization found on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Read more: iOS 14.3: These are 16 iPhone features that you will use every day

ProRaw works on all four iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max cameras. It uses the widely accepted Adobe Digital Negative or DNG file format and contains 12-bit color information and support for 14 stops in the dynamic range. Apple’s approach to ProRaw is similar to how Google saves raw files built from HDR Plus on Pixel phones. ProRaw files are created from multiple image frames and contain data from the best parts of those photos. Deep Fusion scans those images pixel by pixel to create a deep photo file. A14 Bionic performs all these analyzes in real time, without causing a trigger delay.

There are several notable differences between taking a raw photo on an iPhone and a ProRaw photo. The first is that you can take raw photos using only a third-party application, such as Halide or Moment. ProRaw photos can be taken using the Default Camera app. Next, the ProRaw files are large. For example, I took a photo with the same subject using each file format on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The HEIC file was 5.2 megabytes, the JPEG was 6.8 MB, the raw photo (taken with the Moment application) was 16.5 MB, and the ProRaw photo was 34.7 MB.

The larger file size of ProRaw contains much more image data compared to a standard raw file. A ProRaw file is built on a computational photo base from Smart HDR, Deep Fusion and Night Mode, which can lead to an image with significantly lower image noise, better dynamic range and clearer details and textures.

Below are two JPEG files I made, one from a ProRaw photo and another from a raw file taken with the Moment app. On both, I adjusted only the white balance, lights and shadows. If you look at the photo taken from the raw version, you can see a lot of color image noise on the building bricks and most visible in the dark night sky. The photo taken from the ProRaw version has no image noise due to the night mode processed by the iPhone 12 Pro Max when I took the photo.

Below is another comparison of JPEG files. Again, one comes from a ProRaw file and the other from a raw file downloaded with the Moment application. I adjusted the exposure, white balance, lights and shadows on both. The biggest difference between the two is the dynamic range and image noise. Take a look at the sky in the ProRaw version. There was enough information in the file to bring the lights back from white to a blue sky. There is much less shadow image noise compared to the raw version and there is increased clarity in details such as the upper left bricks and the lower left stones.

Not every ProRaw photo I took was very different from the regular raw version. But overall, having access to all this computing data was nice. And this is just the beginning of ProRaw. In future ProRaw updates, third-party applications will be able to use even more data from Smart HDR. Adobe Lightroom, for example, will be able to access the layer map data in Smart HDR, so you can isolate different aspects of the photo (such as faces, people, or the sky) when editing.

I also like the way Apple implemented ProRaw in the Native Camera app. By default, ProRaw is disabled. And that’s smart, because not everyone who owns a 12 Pro or a 12 Pro Max will want to use it. But if you want to activate it, access it settings > camera > formed and under a new one Photo capture section there is a switch to return Apple ProRaw on and off. Then open the Default Camera app, and in the upper right corner, you’ll see a new one Crude button for quick switching between ProRaw photos and JPEG (or HEIC) photos.

Most of the photos I take on the iPhone 12 Pro Max are still JPEGs. But for those photos that are more deliberate or where I need every drop of image information to edit, ProRaw is just a touch of Crude button away.

During testing I used the native Photos app to edit ProRaw photos, as well as third-party apps such as Halide, Moment, VSCO and Lightroom for iOS. Virtually any application that can edit a raw DNG file can edit a ProRaw DNG file. I’m excited to see that third-party apps support ProRaw more fully in the future.

“We work closely with Apple and are excited about the opportunities ProRaw can offer our regular customers,” an Adobe spokesman said. “We have no details to share at this time.”

ProRaw won’t be for everyone, so it’s not on the iPhone 12 and 12 Mini. But it marks the first time that Apple has distinguished its camera software on its Pro iPhone models with a feature that truly appeals to professionals. And I would argue that even if you’re not a professional, but someone who likes to edit your photos before posting them on Instagram or Snapchat, ProRaw is definitely worth a try.

Below are several photos I edited from the ProRaw files taken with the iPhone 12 Pro Max.