8 Apple options we have already seen on Android

The iPhone 15 collection has lastly been revealed, and there are some attention-grabbing upgrades on supply. In saying so, greater than a few these upgrades aren’t precisely unique. Apple and Android OEMs are not any strangers to copying from one another, in any case.

With that in thoughts, listed below are eight iPhone 15 options we noticed on Android telephones first.

The mute change has lengthy been a fixture on the iPhone line, however that modifications with the iPhone 15 Professional collection. The brand new telephones supply an motion button that may be remapped to your required perform or app.

{Hardware} shortcut buttons have been round for years on Android telephones, with the likes of Samsung and BlackBerry providing programmable keys within the late 2010s. We don’t see them a lot these days, however telephones just like the Nokia XR21 and Samsung’s rugged telephones proceed to supply the choice.

Essentially the most notable iPhone 15 Professional Max digicam improve is the 5x folded-zoom digicam, which works utilizing many of the similar rules as folded-zoom periscope cameras. In saying so, Apple’s execution differs considerably from Android OEMs in that the digicam sensor nonetheless faces outwards as an alternative of sideways. So it’s not fairly a periscope design, nevertheless it nonetheless makes use of prisms to mirror mild to allow Apple’s 5x zoom, very similar to all different Android periscope cameras on the market. 

Samsung’s Extremely gadgets are nonetheless among the many finest digicam telephones because of a 10x 10MP periscope digicam and 3x 10MP tele lens. Nonetheless, we’re guessing that the iPhone will supply aggressive or presumably even superior outcomes at ~5x. 

Whereas we’re speaking about cameras, Apple additionally borrows a UI function from Google and Samsung while you zoom in. Extra particularly, the iPhone now shows an overlay window that exhibits off all the scene because the 1x digicam sees it. 

Apple additionally touted the iPhone’s newfound capability to modify image focus after the very fact. That’s fairly useful in some conditions, providing you with extra inventive freedom within the course of.

That is one thing we’ve seen on rival telephones for years now, although. It truly debuted on the Nokia Lumia collection first again in 2013 by way of the Refocus app, whereas 2014’s HTC One M8 provided this function because of a rear depth sensor. However telephones from the likes of HUAWEI (large aperture mode), LG (Magic Focus), Samsung (Selective Focus), and extra have provided this feature over time. 

We’ve got seen some Android manufacturers drop this function since then, and early takes on this function did lead to a really artificial look. So we hope Apple provides a extra polished take.

Apple has lastly switched to USB-C on its iPhones, nearly seven years after the primary Android telephones shipped with the port. The usual iPhone 15 fashions supply sluggish USB 2.0 speeds, in keeping with low-end and mid-range Android telephones. However the Professional gadgets ship USB 3 speeds, broadly in keeping with Google and Samsung flagships.

That is one function we’re glad the corporate has copied, even when it was pressured to take action by the EU. It signifies that you simply want one cable for all of your trendy devices, whereas additionally opening the door for a complete ecosystem of equipment (from flash drives to SSDs and extra).

Apple touted the reasonably nifty capability to return to captured images and switch them into portrait photographs. However once more, this isn’t something new for Android telephones.

Google Photographs provides a “blur background” suggestion for particular photographs (e.g. snaps of individuals with a well-defined background), in addition to a devoted portrait instrument within the enhancing suite. These instruments work offline too, so that you don’t want an web connection to show your present snaps into portrait photographs.

The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional headset is popping out in 2024, and Apple is bringing so-called Spatial Movies to the iPhone 15 Professional line. That is only a fancy title for 3D movies, and it’s one thing we’ve seen on Android telephones earlier than.

In reality, telephones just like the HTC Evo 3D and LG Optimus 3D provided the flexibility to document 3D movies again in 2011. We haven’t seen many main telephones help this performance since then, save for the ill-fated RED Hydrogen One again in 2018. 

Apple’s A17 Professional chip is wanting like a super-powerful smartphone processor. However Apple can be providing a few chip-related options we’ve seen on Android telephones for some time now.

For one, it’s now providing AV1 decoding on the Professional telephones. This enables for a similar video playback high quality at a smaller file measurement or improved high quality for a similar file measurement. A great deal of current Android telephones supply this function, and Netflix and YouTube supply AV1 streaming too. In reality, 2019’s MediaTek Dimensity 1000 was the primary smartphone processor to supply AV1 decoding.

In the meantime, Apple’s Professional telephones additionally deliver ray tracing to the desk. This know-how permits extra practical lighting, shadows, and reflections in video video games. Final 12 months’s Samsung Exynos 2200 chip (used within the European Galaxy S22 collection) was the primary cellular SoC to supply hardware-enabled ray tracing. However we’ve since seen the tech arrive on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and MediaTek Dimensity 9200 processors.