A Deeper Look at 2020 iPad Pro Cameras
New Dual Cameras - First on an iPad
The 2018 iPad Pro release became a giant leap for iPad photography. It contained a rear camera system that is very similar to iPhone XR and introduced depth photography to iPad with its front TrueDepth camera system.
Now with this 2020 iPad Pro release, the new rear camera system seems to steal the spotlight. Though it looks similar to the rear camera housing of iPhone 11, the actual individual cameras within seem to be different. Let’s take a look:
(Camera M has Camera Specifications function in Settings which allows the user to export a fully detailed PDF of the camera system.)
The rear wide-angle camera seems to be the same as the previous generation, which was similar to iPhone XR’s rear camera. The front TrueDepth camera also seems to be unchanged. The biggest addition here is the ultra-wide camera, which is 10 MP. This makes iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro’s ultra-wide cameras still superior with 12 MP and possibly with better sensor quality.
LiDAR sensor seems to be dedicated just for AR for the moment, with no functionality for photography. It seems to have a lower resolution than TrueDepth camera. Perhaps, it is not suitable for depth photography?
Another notable difference is the absence of optical stabilization that is present on iPhone cameras, and this leads to leaning fully on digital stabilization for sharper images.
No Rear Camera Depth
It is quite unusual that, even though there are Dual cameras in the back, ultra-wide and wide-angle, there is no Depth mode available for the rear. It is not available with the native camera app nor access for developers. Since the new LiDAR sensor can virtually see depth better than any Dual Cameras using disparity, we can hope to see Apple opening it up for depth delivery; maybe with iOS 14?
Camera M 3.3 is fully optimized for 2020 iPad and the new Dual camera system.