Analyst suggests the iPhone 14 will have an autofocus front camera

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a prediction by a well-known analyst, Apple's next iPhones could have an improved selfie camera. If you're closer to the camera than Apple's current fixed-focus design, the front-facing camera can take clearer pictures. It would be slightly better for nighttime selfies if it was f/1.9 instead of f/2.2.

Apple will ditch the notch on the iPhone 14 Pro, instead opting for a hole-punch design, according to a prediction made by the author. It's not a new challenge for Apple to fit the upgraded camera into a smaller space, as the selfie cam on the S22 lives inside a circular cutout. It's worth noting that the latest flagships from other manufacturers don't have the same feature as the ones from Samsung, and the selfie cam on the internet isn't a common feature from other manufacturers.

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AF support and a lower f-number can provide a better shallow depth-of-field effect for selfie/portrait mode. In addition, AF can also enhance the focus effect for FaceTime/video call/live streaming.

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) April 19, 2022

The upgraded front camera could come to four new iPhone 14 models, implying that Apple won't use better selfies as a selling point for its Pro phones. It's good to hear that Apple will increase the back camera resolution for its higher-end phones, and that the regular models will get A16-series processors.

The current front-facing camera of the iPhone could probably use some attention. The night mode on the selfie camera hasn't improved since the iPhone 6 and it's not the end-all, be-all for quality.