5 iPhone Camera Features to Try Out This Holiday Season

Over the holiday season, capturing photos and videos of the festivities with family and friends is an important activity for many. The iPhone has a suite of camera features that can significantly elevate the quality and creativity of your holiday photos and videos.

Five iPhone Camera Features to Try This Holiday Season Feature 2
It's easy to forget about many of the individual camera features the ‌iPhone‌ has to offer, and many capabilities go unused by most users, so the holidays is the perfect time to revisit them and try something new. For users of Apple's latest models, the iPhone 15 takes things even further with several exclusive camera features.

Spatial Video

For ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro users, the holiday season presents an ideal opportunity to experiment with Spatial Video capture feature. Available on the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max running iOS 17.2 or later, the feature allows users to record videos in a three-dimensional format, bringing a new level of depth and realism to holiday memories.

spatial video apple visioin pro
While Apple's Vision Pro or a device like the Meta Quest 3 is required for the best experience when playing back Spatial Video, this should not deter users from exploring the feature. Spatial Video capture is available now to help users begin creating a library of immersive videos right away. Spatial Videos can also be played back as normal 2D content on other devices.

The technology behind Spatial Video Capture involves using the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro's Main and Ultra Wide cameras. When recording, the ‌iPhone‌ seamlessly combines inputs from these cameras to create a single video file that encapsulates a three-dimensional perspective. This is achieved through sophisticated computational videography techniques, which intelligently scale the field of view from the Ultra Wide camera to match that of the Main camera.

The result is a video that, while technically 2D in format, contains depth information that can be utilized by compatible devices to produce a 3D viewing experience. The spatial dimension added to these videos creates a sense of immersion and presence that far surpasses traditional video, supposedly making the viewer feel as if they are actually part of the captured moment.

Cinematic Mode

The holiday season is a good time for ‌iPhone‌ 13 and newer model users to try out Cinematic mode, a feature that adds a depth-of-field effect to videos. Cinematic mode uses advanced computational algorithms to automatically focus on subjects and creatively blur the background, akin to what you would see in high-end cinematography.

Cinematic Mode iPhone Feature
Cinematic mode allows users to focus on details in a creative way, by shifting focus smoothly from one subject to another. Cinematic mode also simplifies capturing these moments by automatically adjusting focus when people enter or leave the frame, or when the subject of the video looks in a different direction.

Ultra Wide-Angle Lens for Group Shots

The holiday season presents the perfect opportunity to utilize the often under-utilized Ultra Wide camera lens. This lens, available on most ‌iPhone‌ models starting from the ‌iPhone‌ 11, offers unique advantages that are particularly useful during the holidays.

iphone 11 pro ultra wide
The Ultra Wide lens is particularly adept at photographing in confined spaces that would be difficult to capture fully with a standard Wide lens. One of the most significant advantages of the Ultra Wide lens is its ability to fit more into the frame without needing to move back. This is especially helpful during family gatherings where you might want to capture a large group of people in one photo.

Portrait Mode

The ‌iPhone 15‌ lineup introduced some substantial improvements to Portrait mode. Now, users can adjust the focus of an image or add background blur after its capture, even if Portrait mode isn't initially selected.

iphone 15 portrait photo
Post-shot editing capability allows you to experiment with different focal points, ensuring that each portrait captures the subject in the most flattering and interesting way. This improvement is especially useful for snapping quick, candid shots of family members and pets over the holiday period. The ‌iPhone 15‌'s Portrait mode has also been refined to perform better in low-light conditions.

Photographic Styles

Photographic Styles, a feature introduced in the ‌iPhone‌ 13 series, offers a personalized photography experience that can help enhance holiday photos. The feature allows users to choose and customize a photographic style that automatically applies to their photos, ensuring that every shot reflects their preferred aesthetic.

photographic styles iphone 13
Photographic Styles are not one-size-fits-all filters. Instead, they are smart adjustments that apply selectively to different parts of the photo, such as skin tones and sky. Photographic Styles intelligently adapt to the lighting conditions in each shot, adjusting to preserve natural-looking skin tones and textures.

Users can choose from preset styles like Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, and Cool, each offering a unique look. During the holidays, this means you can select a style that best suits the festive mood and give your images a distinctive look.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...

Top Rated Comments

DMG35 Avatar
17 months ago
I've said it before, but I love when you guys give tips like these. I'd completely forgotten about Photographic styles. Also didn't know I could watch spatial video on my Meta Quest 3. Thank you!!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GonMacNvrGoBack Avatar
17 months ago
So that’s no features for my iPhone SE 2020 then. Merry Christmas!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ohbrilliance Avatar
17 months ago

Where is the Apple Pencil feature?
Not in an article on Camera features, that’s for sure ?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
17 months ago
iPhone 15 pro and pro max and iOS 17 has many new features. Thanks for highlighting a few of them.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BrooksWasHere Avatar
17 months ago
I’ll be glad when they can remove objects/people from the photos on the fly…

You know..like Google does.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
acslater017 Avatar
17 months ago
I started my spatial video library about 2 weeks ago. Even if you’re not planning on picking up the first gen Apple Vision Pro, I’d start capturing spatial video now whenever it makes sense, so you’ll have the memories captured in a few years.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)