iOS 14.3: first beta delights iPhone photographers

The first beta of iOS 14.3 stumbled out of the starting blocks last night. Possibly in connection with the problems with the launch of macOS Big Sur, which has also been available in its final version for several hours, the new iOS beta got off to a bumpy start.

Beta 1 of iOS and iPadOS 14.3 for iPhone and iPad was removed by Apple shortly after the first offer of downloads. Now, however, paying developers have access once again to the pre-release versions and can test them extensively.

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iOS 14.3: ProRAW shows up for iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max

Especially ambitious iPhone photographers with the latest iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, who like to edit their pictures afterwards, can look forward to the upcoming update. As promised by Apple, the next software update will include support for ProRAW. The RAW format allows photographers to get much more out of their images than is possible with conventional shots in JPEG format, for example.

Scoop: Looks like the pulled iOS 14.3 beta has Apple ProRAW support. It's a 12-bit Linear DNG with files coming in at about 25 MB. Thanks @MattF_NorCal! pic.twitter.com/hG6GHz9SVe

— Halide (@halidecamera) November 12, 2020

Halide developer Sebastiaan de With has published a number of shots on Twitter and summarized some of the current features. If you activate the recording of RAW images, portrait mode or live photos are not supported. However, it seems that Deep Fusion, Smart HDR and Night Mode may still be active when ProRAW is enabled.

ProRAW is supported by all three iPhone 12 Pro cameras. However, de With described the photos of the ultra wide-angle camera as "not very RAW". They had been heavily processed by the system. Overall, the developer of the popular camera app seems to be enthusiastic about the new possibilities.

Dreams do come true: ProRAW brings RAW to the ultra-wide lens, too. That includes ultra-wide Night Mode shots! They're not very... RAW. Very processsed (clearly lens corrected and noise reduced).

ProRAW shots, unedited, and a quick edit: pic.twitter.com/Sh0dusibuK

— Sebastiaan de With (@sdw) November 13, 2020

ProRAW must first be enabled in the camera settings. Only then can it be selected in the actual camera app of iOS. By this way, one has fast access to the RAW functions. Photos in ProRAW format take approximately 25 MByte, the exact size varies depending on the scene.

New references to AirPods Studio and AirTags

In the depths of the new beta, hints of AirPods Studio and AirTags were also discovered once again. As before, these are images that could potentially show the new Apple headphones.

New Pairing video in the Find My app in iOS 14.3 beta 1 with the codename Hawkeye hints at Apple Tags support and new Apple over ear headphones. pic.twitter.com/oVdCLQcaWc

— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) November 12, 2020

Apple is also said to have laid the foundation for integrated support for third-party trackers, such as Tile. This could make it possible in the future to be able to find the key chains of other manufacturers directly in Apple's Find My-app.

iOS 14.3 Beta 1: Many small new features

Other new features in iOS 14.3 Beta 1 include, for example, air quality-based hints in the weather app for the US, Germany, UK, India and Mexico. Ecosia has been added to the list of supported search engines.

Apple also says that the codes of the so-called App Clips can be launched by scanning them with the integrated camera. iOS 14.3 also supports the new DualSense wireless controller of the PlayStation 5 and the gamepad of Amazon Luna.

The Home app may also be used to update HomeKit accessories in the future. This is indicated by new notifications found in the app. So far, the app of the respective manufacturer must be installed and used for this purpose.

Besides iOS and iPadOS 14.3, Apple has also released the first betas of watchOS 7.2 and tvOS 14.3 for developers to download. The public beta could follow in the next hours or days.

Source: MacRumors, 9to5Mac