8 Apple features we’ve already seen on Android

The iPhone 15 collection has lastly been revealed, and there are some fascinating upgrades on provide. In saying so, greater than a few these upgrades aren’t precisely unique. Apple and Android OEMs aren’t any strangers to copying from one another, in spite of everything.

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 provide 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.

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

Samsung’s Extremely gadgets are nonetheless among the many greatest digital camera telephones due to a 10x 10MP periscope digital camera and 3x 10MP tele lens. Nonetheless, we’re guessing that the iPhone will provide aggressive or probably even superior outcomes at ~5x. 

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

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

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

We’ve seen some Android manufacturers drop this characteristic since then, and early takes on this characteristic did lead to a really artificial look. So we hope Apple presents 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 provide sluggish USB 2.0 speeds, in step with low-end and mid-range Android telephones. However the Professional gadgets ship USB 3 speeds, broadly in step with Google and Samsung flagships.

That is one characteristic 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 slightly nifty capacity to return to captured photographs and switch them into portrait photographs. However once more, this isn’t something new for Android telephones.

Google Pictures presents a “blur background” suggestion for particular photographs (e.g. snaps of individuals with a well-defined background), in addition to a devoted portrait device within the enhancing suite. These instruments work offline too, so that you don’t want an web connection to show your current 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 truth, telephones just like the HTC Evo 3D and LG Optimus 3D provided the power to report 3D movies again in 2011. We haven’t seen many main telephones assist this performance since then, save for the ill-fated RED Hydrogen One again in 2018. 

Apple’s A17 Professional chip is trying 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 permits 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 provide this characteristic, and Netflix and YouTube provide AV1 streaming too. In truth, 2019’s MediaTek Dimensity 1000 was the primary smartphone processor to supply AV1 decoding.

In the meantime, Apple’s Professional telephones additionally carry ray tracing to the desk. This know-how permits extra practical lighting, shadows, and reflections in video video games. Final yr’s Samsung Exynos 2200 chip (used within the European Galaxy S22 collection) was the primary cell 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.