Two iPhone 13s, vastly different photo quality

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Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

116 points

Two iPhone 13s, vastly different photo quality

I use an iPhone 13 Pro Max. My daughter uses an iPhone 13. Today she sent me a photo to print for her. (I have a printer; she doesn't.) The photo's Information gives the size of the file as 630 KB.

The day before she took that photo, she'd taken another photo with my iPhone 13 Pro Max. That photo displays in the Photos app on my MacBook Pro at 2.3 MB. Can someone explain to me why these two photos render at such wildly different file sizes? The phones are almost identical—iPhone 13 vs iPhone 13 Pro Max. Both phones use iOS 17. I know the Pro Max has a fancier camera (that's why I chose the Pro Max), but is it THAT much better? Apple's specifications sheet for iPhone 13 doesn't show any differences.

iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 17

Posted on Apr 10, 2024 11:16 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

tntgalios

Level 1

24 points

Apr 10, 2024 12:10 PM in response to Lucas1948

Lots of questions... 1) what exactly were all of here settings when she took the photo on her iPhone 13, and 2) how did she "send" the photo to you.

For #1, she can navigate to the photo itself on her device in the Photos app, and tap the "info" i down at the bottom, then screenshot all of the details for the photo. It will be a gray box with something like "Apple iPhone 13" for the title, and all of the camera info below it. She may have changed her camera settings to be less than highest (used front facing camera perhaps?), and/or her Camera defaults set to a lower image quality - check Camera settings in the Camera app (under "formats"... see what is selected there). Compare all of that info for the photo details, to the "max" on the specs for the iPhone 13.

Also... separate to that... it may also depend on how she has her iCloud set up for Photos. In her iPhone 13 Settings, she should tap her Apple ID name at the top, then tap "iCloud," then then tap "Photos" and see if "optimize iPhone storage" or "download and keep originals" is selected.

For #2, she likely did not send the "original resolution" of the photo. If she sent via SMS/MMS, it is almost definitely not going to be the highest "original resolution" that you receive (especially if she has her phone set to "optimize iPhone storage"). But she also can check "Messages" app settings within Settings, scroll to the bottom, and see if "low quality image mode" is selected.

Lots of things to check... but those are good places to start.

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Answer 2

Apr 11, 2024 3:09 PM in response to Lucas1948

I notice that your daughter's picture is listed as 5 MP even though the iPhone 13 has a 12 MP camera. It's 4x3, which is normal. 1/2 second exposure at ISO 1600? This must have been a very dark place!

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Answer 3

Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

116 points

Apr 11, 2024 2:57 PM in response to tntgalios

Okay … my daughter air–dropped the photo, so it traveled via Bluetooth, not MMS/SMS (right … ?). The original photo file size on her iPhone is 858 KB.

In Messages, “Low-Quality Image Mode” is turned Off. She keeps her photos in iCloud, with “Optimize iPhone Storage” turned on.

Just now, I took fresh photos of the same scene with my iPhone and my daughter’s. This time, the photo on my phone is 1.3 MB; on her phone, it’s 1.7 MB. Go figure. Then I airdropped the photo from her phone to mine, and it came through at full size—1.7 MB. OÍ!

Back to that photo that got me started: The photo my daughter airdropped (858 KB) she had taken indoors. The one she took with my phone (2.3 MB) she took outdoors. Maybe the lighting had something to do with the file size … ?

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Answer 4

Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

116 points

Apr 10, 2024 8:38 PM in response to tntgalios

Sorry for the delay. I don’t have access to my daughter’s phone just now, so I’ll come back with more information later. She air–dropped the photo to me—that much I can say right now. I’ll get screenshots tomorrow so we can examine this issue in detail. Thanks!

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Answer 5

Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

116 points

Apr 13, 2024 4:09 PM in response to Lucas1948

Quite right. It’s her living room, and the lighting is pretty dim. I’m often impressed with the iPhone 13’s ability to gather light. Now, on that point: yeah, it’s a 12 MP camera, so shouldn’t my photos approach that size? Unless I’ve intentionally dumbed down the camera settings? Or it that the performance I should expect only when I’m shooting video in cinematic mode?

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Answer 6

Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

116 points

Apr 13, 2024 9:35 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Quite right. It’s her living room, and the lighting is pretty dim.

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Two iPhone 13s, vastly different photo quality

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