Artist Kenny Hill started the installation in the 1980s until his eviction in 2000
Heart of Louisiana: Sculpture garden
Extraordinary World Of Microscopic Photography
The procedure itself can be soothing for photographers who are really engrossed in the world of microscopic photography. The razor-sharp concentration needed to capture these short moments promotes mindfulness and a close relationship with the topic. It serves as a reminder that beauty exists on all scales and that, occasionally, slowing down to see the minute can result in the most profound insights.
A reminder that there is more to the world than meets sight, microscopic photography invites the viewer to investigate the invisible. We are taken into a world of patterns, colors, and textures through the lenses of these accomplished photographers, challenging our perceptions and broadening our perspectives. Take a minute the next time you’re in nature to consider the hidden beauty that can be found in even the smallest spaces. Microscopic photography enables us to fully appreciate this beauty.
Holy Hill Art and Farm Market set for this weekend
RICHFIELD — Holy Hill Art & Farm Market, 4958 Highway 167, will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 16-17.
Over 200 Wisconsin artists, farmers, bakers and makers will be on the 165-year-old family homestead’s 80 acres .
Meet Market Folks, see their work and talk with them about custom work.
Admission is $4; parking is free. Enjoy coffee, hot sandwiches, bakery, and other refreshments. Visitors are also encouraged to bring family and friends to enjoy lunch and live musicians while taking time to shop, relax and create.
Ballina Contemporary Art Market
Arts, crafts, creatures and a laneway party!
Saturday 14 October, 10am – 7pm
Northern Rivers Community Gallery & Ignite Studios Creative precinct, Cnr Cherry St and Crane St, Ballina
Free event
www.ballinacontemporaryartmarket.com.au
The Ballina Contemporary Art Market is a one-day, fun-filled arts and cultural event taking place on Saturday 14 October 2023 from 10am – 7pm at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG) & Ignite Studios creative precinct, showcasing the creative talent of the region.
Free to attend, the event will feature over 50 arts and crafts stalls located within the Gallery, Ignite Studios, and surrounding gardens, selling a range of artworks, products, and wares by artists and artisans from across the Northern Rivers.
Throughout the day, an exciting program of free creative workshops will be available for market goers – weaving with Jugan Dandii, collage workshops with Claudie Frock and playing with clay sessions facilitated by local ceramicists. Local visual artist Kate Stroud has developed a range of installations, including a skill testing machine, a cloud corridor and a series of augmented reality portraits for market attendees to engage with and discover.
/Public Release. View in full here.
Incremental iPhone 15 Improvements Focus on Photography and Connectivity
At its Wonderlust event on 12 September 2023, Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 lineup with primarily incremental improvements. In keeping with last year’s approach, Apple introduced the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 and 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Plus along with the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max. The third-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 remain available to provide lower-cost options (see “Apple Unveils Four Models of the iPhone 14,” 7 September 2022). The iPhone 13 mini disappears from the mix, sadly marking the end of Apple’s 5.4-inch iPhones.
You can pre-order the new iPhone 15 models on Friday, 15 September 2023, and they’ll be available a week later on 22 September 2023.
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
Although Apple continues to innovate more on the Pro end of the lineup, the basic iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus improve on their predecessors in various ways, some in part due to the adoption of the A16 Bionic chip from the iPhone 14 Pro.
- USB-C: The most apparent change, shared by the Pro models, is the replacement of the Lightning port with USB-C for charging and data transfer. Unsurprisingly, Apple focused on the benefits of USB-C and made no mention of the EU’s requirement that all electronics use a common charger starting in 2024.
- Dynamic Island: The iPhone 15 gains the Dynamic Island that debuted last year in the iPhone 14 Pro. It’s a subtle but effective way to display alerts and Live Activities in the area surrounding the camera and sensor package at the top of the screen, eliminating the need for a distracting notch.
- 48-megapixel camera: In a significant jump, the iPhone 15 gets a 48-megapixel camera that promises better photos than the previous generation’s 12-megapixel camera. By default, it combines pixels for a 24-megapixel image bolstered by computational photography. It also provides an effective 2x telephoto option by using just the 12 megapixels in the center of the sensor, giving the iPhone 15 optical-quality zoom levels of 0.5x, 1x, and 2x.
- Computational photography improvements: The camera now detects people, dogs, and cats and captures depth information for Portrait mode, which can be applied after the fact. It’s also possible to adjust the focal point after the fact. Other changes improve photos taken in Night mode and using Smart HDR.
- Roadside Assistance via satellite: This expansion to Emergency SOS via satellite enables iPhone 15 users suffering car problems in areas without cellular coverage to call for assistance. Access to satellite services is included for 2 years, and AAA membership in the US covers the roadside service. Those who aren’t AAA members will be able to purchase service separately.
- Second-generation UWB chip: Apple’s second-generation Ultra Wideband chip enables Precision Finding at three times the range as before when used to locate other devices with the second-generation chip. That makes Precision Finding with Find My Friends practical in crowds.
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will be available in pink, yellow, green, blue, and black in 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB storage capacities, starting at $799 and $899, respectively.
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
As much as many people bemoan the cost of Apple products, Apple does very well selling premium products at premium prices. Nowhere is that more evident than with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, where Apple charges $200 more than the base model for innovative features. Along with the Roadside Assistance via satellite and second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the Pro-only features this year include:
- A17 Pro chip: The latest version of Apple’s iPhone (and likely iPad) chip offers 10% faster CPU performance (than last year’s A16 Bionic), twice the Neural Engine performance, and a new 6-core GPU design that’s 20% faster. There’s also a dedicated AV1 decoder for better streaming video experiences. If you do things on your iPhone that seem slow now—video streaming or mobile gaming, perhaps—you’ll appreciate the new chip. Either way, it will quickly become the new normal.
- USB-C with USB 3 speeds: Although all iPhone 15 models have a USB-C port, the iPhone 15 Pro models support USB 3 transfer speeds of 10 gigabits per second. That also allows video output up to 4K at 60 frames per second.
- Wi-Fi 6e and Thread support: For those needing maximum wireless performance, Apple says the iPhone 15 Pro’s support for Wi-Fi 6e can provide up to twice the bandwidth. Thread support could enable future opportunities for Home app integrations.
- Titanium exterior: I’m not one to gush about different materials, mainly because most phones end up in protective cases, but Apple made a big deal about how the iPhone 15 Pro features an aerospace-grade titanium exterior and aluminum interior for strength, durability, and reduced weight. Both models are only 19 grams lighter—about the weight of four credit cards—and while that’s welcome, it’s not game-changing.
- Action button: Apple replaced the Ring/Silent switch with a customizable Action button, activated by pressing and holding. By default, it still puts the iPhone into silent mode, but you can set what you want it to do, such as activate Voice Memos, set Focus modes, access the camera or flashlight, enable Accessibility options, or launch a Shortcut. It features haptic feedback and shows visual cues in the Dynamic Island.
- Better photos: Both models of the iPhone 15 Pro get an even better 48-megapixel camera and receive the same computational photography upgrades as the base models that provide 24-megapixel default photos, better low-light photos in Night mode, more vibrant images with Smart HDR, and automatic Portrait mode. But the iPhone 15 Pro Max gains a 5x Telephoto camera thanks to a tetraprism design—the rumored “periscope” camera.
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be available in four finishes: black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium, and natural titanium. The iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999 for 128 GB, with 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB storage options. The iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1199 for 256 GB, with 512 GB and 1 TB storage options. Last year’s iPhone 14 Pro Max started at $1099, but that was for 128 GB, which is no longer an option, so the prices are comparable. Or, if you take inflation into account, lower.
Upgrade Decisions
Last year, we suggested that there wasn’t much reason to upgrade to the iPhone 14, but the iPhone 14 Pro, with its 48-megapixel camera, Always-On display, and Dynamic Island, was more compelling. This year, I think the reverse is true.
Because the iPhone 15 gains the A16 Bionic chip, 48-megapixel camera, Dynamic Island, and computational photography improvements, it’s an easier upgrade decision if you’re coming from an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13. It’s harder to recommend upgrading from an iPhone 14 that’s only a year old, but even that jump is likely something you’ll notice.
However, the improvements in the iPhone 15 Pro over the iPhone 14 Pro are likely to be appreciated mostly by professionals. Most people won’t notice the increased performance of the A17 Pro, USB 3, and Wi-Fi 6e. As always, the camera improvements will gain a wide fan base, but the 5x Telephoto camera is available only on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and many people (like me) who would otherwise appreciate it would never consider such a large phone.
As such, I can’t recommend most people upgrade from an iPhone 14 Pro, and only the camera improvements and Action button tempt me to trade mine in. If you’re using an iPhone 13 Pro or anything older, it’s an easier decision because you’d also gain the features that set the iPhone 14 Pro apart.
Where do you come down on the upgrade decision?
Oscar Howe Exhibition Opens
One of South Dakota’s greatest artists, Oscar Howe, is having his legacy remembered in USD’s fine arts building with “The Howe Legacy Across Four Generations” Exhibition. Howe was a Yanktonai Dakota artist and a professor at USD from 1957 until 1983.
The exhibition features art from 16 different artists that were inspired by Howe from across several generations. Some of Howe’s original art pieces are up for viewing as well as a piece that was inspired by his work alongside it to get a look at how art has evolved over time.
The exhibition features a wide array of art, from abstract interpretations of the creation of the universe to realism pieces about the impacts of over harvesting the earth’s animals and resources.
Multiple mediums are used in this exhibition from paintings, installation, ledger drawings, sculptures in addition to video and music. The exhibition shows Native American art from several different individuals, tribes and time periods.
The exhibition will hold a public reception in the John A. Day Gallery on Sept. 21 from 5-7 p.m. A panel will follow the reception in the Colton Recital Hall from 7-8 p.m. featuring the artists whose works are on display.
The exhibition has no entrance fee and is being held in the John A. Day Gallery from Aug. 28 through Oct. 13, Monday through Friday from 9-5 p.m.
To see similar artwork, check out USD’s Oscar Howe collection, the largest collection of Howe’s work in the nation, or check out Robert L. Penn Contemporary Native Art Collection, which features several artworks curated by Native students from USD.
Photo Credit: The Volante | Jordan Grothe
Center For Native Futures Gallery Opening In Chicago
The opening of a new art gallery in Chicago is not a particularly big deal. Galleries have been coming and going there for over a century.
The opening of the Center for Native Futures’ gallery, however, is a big deal. Historic. This will be Chicago’s first and only all-Native arts gallery, operated by the city’s only all-Native fine arts organization.
“Now we have a place to actually show our art, when we want to, and support other artists and show their work and have people see what we’ve been exposed to for our lives as artists,” Chicagoan, artist, and Center for Native Futures co-founder Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez Pueblo) told Forbes.com.
Yepa-Pappan and her husband, fellow artist, and fellow Center for Native Futures co-founder Chris Pappan (Kanza/Osage/Lakota), have been carrying the banner for Native art in Chicago for years. For most of that time, she felt they were doing so alone. Within the last decade, however, more prominent Native artists began trickling to and rising up from Chicago.
A small community developed with a collective aspiration.
“We realized that we all had the same vision of wanting our own space as Native artists, to have a space that we can also bring in other Native artists,” Yepa-Pappan said. “We knew there’s this need in the community and I just said, ‘What’s stopping us? Why can’t we do this?’”
That proclamation was made on one of the regular Zoom meetings the group held as a means of support and connection during the pandemic. As fate would have it, another participant on the call had experience launching nonprofit organizations. By the end of 2020, the Center for Native Futures was a real thing, a Native artist run non-profit supporting Native art based in Chicago.
Getting off the ground
Yepa-Pappan has a simple answer for why the Center for Native Futures co-founders chose to pursue the non-profit route when forming the organization and setting up the gallery.
“As artists and just as people trying to make a living here in Chicago, we don’t have the money to start a for profit business, we’re barely making it to pay our own rent for where we’re living,” she said.
Understandably, none of them wanted to go broke or into debt pursuing this dream. Fate, fortunately, intervened.
The Terra Foundation for American Art has been one of the leading foundations supporting art of the United States since its founding in 1978. Its headquarters happen to be based in Chicago. In 2020, the Foundation began reimagining its mission to “focus on projects… aimed at questioning and broadening definitions of American art and transforming how stories of American art are told.”
Projects exactly like the Center for Native Futures.
Terra Foundation President & CEO Sharon Corwin was new to the position in 2020. Getting a lay of the land, she reached out to Chicago artist Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe). Carlson just so happened to be another co-founder of the Center for Native Futures.
Bingo.
“We had an initial conversation with the Terra Foundation and shared what our plans were, what our dreams are, and they just jumped to support us,” Yepa-Pappan remembers. “They gave us our seed funding, which was incredible, and they continue to support us today.”
That seed funding amounted to $150,000. Not only could Center for Native Futures launch and operate with that money, it was enough to open a brick and mortar retail space.
Right place, right time.
“These foundations, I think they’re in that moment now where they realize how they haven’t supported Native art and they’re all here now willing to support us because of what we’re doing,” Yepa-Pappan said.
That includes the MacArthur Foundation, also headquartered in Chicago. The MacArthur Foundation is best known for its “Genius Grants,” but has supported a vast array of creative and dynamic thinkers, including, but not exclusively, artists, in the U.S. and around the world to the tune of nearly $7 billion since 1978.
The Marquette Building
The Center for Native Futures gallery will occupy a 3,600-square-foot storefront in the Marquette Building which, not coincidentally, the MacArthur Foundation owns and calls home.
The stately Marquette Building opened as high-end office space in 1895 during a period of explosive growth for Chicago following its hosting of the 1893 World’s Fair. It’s named in honor of Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit priest who was one of the first Europeans to explore the upper Midwest of what would become the United States during the 1660s and 70s. That included what is now Chicago, and he and two companions became the first Europeans to live in the future city, ancestral homelands to the Council of the Three Fires–Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations–as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois Nations.
The lobby of this architectural gem features a striking mosaic mural created by Louis Comfort Tiffany depicting Marquette’s initial encounters with the area’s Indigenous people.
“The narrative is very problematic,” Yepa-Pappan said. “It’s Marquette and these Jesuit priests meeting with the Indians–the savage Indians–and the Indians are dressed as Plains Indians, not even representative of the people that were here that he would have originally met.”
The building and mural have historic landmark designation, so it can’t be removed, but it’s hardly the statement an organization striving to be enlightened and inclusive like the MacArthur Foundation wants to make.
“The MacArthur Foundation wanted to counter that narrative and they have this small exhibition space beyond the lobby (where) they wanted to have this kind of intervention exhibition,” Yepa-Pappan said. “When I heard they were working on this project, I said, ‘I would love to be involved in some way.’”
And so she did.
In another bit of good timing, during those conversations, the Center for Native Futures launched. The pandemic was at its peak. The Marquette Building suddenly had prime storefronts empty in Chicago’s urban core.
What about using some of that space for a pop-up exhibition of Native Art visible from the street?
“That turned into, well, let’s turn this into a partnership and why don’t we let you have one of these spaces to house Center for Native Futures,” Yepa-Pappan said.
So it is.
The gallery will pay a modest rent for a premium location, but Yepa-Pappan reminds, “our presence there is also helping to counter the narrative in there too.”
So it is.
The Marquette Building is located three blocks down East Adams Street from another Chicago icon whose history intersects with the Center for Native Futures.
If you can’t join ‘em, leave ‘em
Chelsea Bighorn “Untitled (black fringe)”, dyed canvas and beads, 7’x3’, 2023.
Center for Native Futures
The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the finest art museums in the world housing masterpieces including Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Vincent Van Gogh’s The Bedroom and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Its paucity of Native American art, however, is disgraceful.
“We’re just down the street from the Art Institute of Chicago, we can step foot in there as spectators, but we’ve never had our art on their walls and we never get invited to do anything there,” Yepa-Pappan said. “Whenever the Art Institute–if they do bring in a Native artist–they’re artists that don’t have a connection to Chicago. They have this community of Native artists that are just as well known, living right in their front yard, and yet we never get invited. So, here we are now, physically, practically in their front yard, and we’re going to control this, we’re going to have this space where we can show our art and the art of other Native people that we admire.”
One of those Native people will be Kelly Church (Ottawa/Pottawatomi). She prominently does have a work on view at the Art Institute of Chicago, a black ash basket in the shape of an egg displayed not far from Nighthawks. Church will be featured along with more than a dozen other artists during the Center for Native Future’s gallery initial exhibition “Native Futures.”
“We are really about trying to push Native artists as fine artists,” Yepa-Pappan said. “We want people to recognize our art as fine art.”
She also hopes the gallery’s presence opens they city’s and the nation’s eyes to the presence of Native people there.
You are on Native land
Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe), ‘You are on Potawatomi Land’ mural along Chicago River near Michigan Avenue … [+]
Chadd Scott
“it’s so surprising to me because sometimes even Native people from out of town who come here just don’t realize we have such a large (Native) community,” Yepa-Pappan said. “Chicago was one of those relocation cities during the government’s relocation program so that’s how a lot of these different families ended up in Chicago and stayed here for opportunities that a big urban city has to offer.”
A 2018 study found Chicago to have the third largest urban Native American population in the country. Illinois, however, is one of only 14 U.S. states without a single federally recognized tribe calling it home. The legacy of forced removal by the federal government of tribes from this area where they once thrived in great numbers.
“The city itself has done so much to erase Native people and there are so many stereotypical images around the city, these romanticized images of Native peoples,” Yepa-Pappan said. Look no further than the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks logo. “When people see those, that’s what they’re expecting to see when they’re thinking about Native people. They’re thinking that we should all reflect those stereotypes. Tribal members still live here, but they don’t look like those romanticized Indians, people don’t know what to look for when they’re looking for Native people (in Chicago), but we’re here.”
Now with an art gallery to call their own.
The Center for Native Futures will host its grand opening celebration and exhibition on Saturday, September 16, from 4:00 to 7:00 PM and Sunday, September 17, from noon to 4:00 PM. All are welcome.
The art gallery will then open to the public Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Also highlighting the Native American community in Chicago, and beyond, is an exhibition of Rosalie Favell’s (Métis) Indigenous portraits at the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University on view September 20 through December 3, 2023.
In 2018, Favell launched her “Facing the Camera” series which has grown to include more than 500 portraits of Indigenous artists and arts professionals taken across Canada, the United States and Australia. “Rosalie Favell: Indigenous Artists Facing the Camera” will include more than 115 photos from the series, as well as a suite of new portraits of Chicago-area artists and arts professionals taken during Favell’s Block Museum residency during the spring of 2023. Included are pictures of Debra Yepa-Pappan and Chris Pappan.
Photography Council Lunchtime Talk: Will Matsuda
Free and open to the public
Portland Art Museum’s Photography Council invites you to the upcoming Lunchtime Photography Talk featuring photographer Will Matsuda. He will discuss his practice and current projects, thoughts on expanding the genre of family portraiture, and strategies surrounding photographing climate change.
Will Matsuda (b. 1993) is a photographer and writer focusing on Japanese-American culture, his family, and the environment. His work has appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, and The New Yorker, among many other publications. A photograph from his series Hanafuda appeared on the cover of the Spring 2022 issue of Aperture magazine. His works have been exhibited internationally by Aperture Foundation and Yancey Richardson Gallery. He is based in Portland, Oregon, where he was born and raised.
Acclaimed Indigenous artist Robert Davidson to attend Shadbolt screening of award-winning film documenting his life
The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents an evening with acclaimed master artist, Robert Davidson for a book signing and screening of the award-winning documentary about his life, Haida Modern—the Art and Activism of Robert Davidson on Friday, October 13 at the James Cowan Theatre at 7 pm.
The film will be followed by a question and answer session with Davidson, as well as a book sales/signing session for his new book Echoes of the Supernatural—the Graphic Art of Robert Davidson and a reception with an opportunity to meet the artist.
The film, directed by Charles Wilkenson, explores the explosion of modern Indigenous art by following Davidson to his native Haida Gwaii as well as Alaska, Vancouver, San Francisco, New York and Austin. The film features Davidson at work in his studio bringing forward the knowledge of the old masters into the 21st century and shows how his work is bedded in a strong activism giving an eloquent voice to a threatened natural world.
Davidson is universally considered one of the world’s greatest contemporary woodcarvers. He’s received every national and regional award that can be bestowed upon a Canadian artist including the Order of Canada, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, the Order of British Columbia and the Audain Prize. Recently he was honoured with a retrospective exhibition of his paintings and limited edition prints at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors/students and $15 for youth 17 and under. Tickets can be purchased online at tickets.shadboltcentre.com or by calling 604-205-3000. The James Cowen Theatre is located at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts at 6450 Deer Lake Ave.
Media Contact:
Chris Bryan
Manager, Public Affairs
Public Affairs Office
604-570-3616 | [email protected]
Apple iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max go all in on photography and performance
Apple has finally announced the iPhone 15 Pro series, consisting of the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max. Let’s get right into the details and learn about what’s new.
Titanium body, USB-C port
The iPhone 15 Pro series (15 Pro and 15 Pro Max) uses a Grade 5 titanium alloy enclosure, the same titanium blend used for the Mars Rover. Shifting away from the old Pro series’ usage of surgical-grade stainless steel isn’t just a premium flex, but the new material weighs less while offering greater durability, with no change to its display sizes thanks to a reduced border around their displays. Like before, the Ceramic Shield front glass protection stays.
Apple finished off its surface with a brushed texture and used PVD coating (physical vapour deposition) for colours. That means the four new colours use the base material to inform their base coat, and Apple named them as such: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium.
Apple claimed that the new structural frame is easier to repair and uses recycled aluminium, which aligns with Apple’s sustainability goals.
The classic ring/silence hard toggle/switch is now a tactile Action Button with haptic feedback. It can also be customised further with other functions, like accessing your camera, getting to preferred accessibility features, and launching shortcuts.
iPhone 15 Pro retains its 6.1-inch display, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max also keeps its 6.7-inch panel, both with Super Retina XDR panel type. It also retains all the old perks like Dynamic Island, ProMotion, an Extreme Dynamic Range, and Always-on Display. iOS 17 takes advantage of these display perks with a new feature called StandBy (an iOS 17 feature introduced during WWDC 2023).
@hwztech Your very first look at the iPhone 15 Pro in all four finishes. #hwz #hwzsg #iphone15pro #apple #wonderlust #iphone ♬ original sound – HardwareZone
USB-C iPhones are no longer a pipe dream. Like its regular series, the iPhone 15 Pro series also now has USB-C ports, and it supports reverse charging too — the demonstration by Apple showed an iPhone 15 charging AirPods.
USB-C ports are also extra-fast on Pro models, with the new A17 Pro chipset’s USB controller conferring 10Gbps data transfer speeds and USB 3 support (more about the chipset below).
Apple A17 Pro chipset
While the regular series inherit the previous year’s chipset, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max get a new Apple A17 Pro processor.
The A17 Pro chipset is manufactured on a 3nm process, making it one of the first phones in the world with a chipset that has 19 billion transistors that are 12 silicon atoms-wide each.
A17 Pro has a 6-core CPU: two performance cores that are 10% faster than before, and four high-efficiency cores which are three times more performance-per-watt than “the competition).
Also on board is a 2x faster, 16-core Neural Engine that processes 35 trillion machine-learning operations per second, on-device.
Apple also made good use of the space by including dedicated engines for AV1 decoding, the ProRes codec, and its display engine for ProMotion and Always-on Display features.
The new “pro-class”, 6-core GPU is 20% faster for peak performance and better sustained efficiency. Additional features are mesh shading (which sounds suspiciously like variable rate shading). Apple also added hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which adds realistic, responsive, real-time light and reflections in graphics-heavy content like games and AR apps.
iPhone 15 Pro series cameras
iPhone 15 Pro (and 15 Pro Max) has an “equivalent of seven camera lenses in your pocket”, said Apple.
Apple didn’t increase the physical number of lenses, though. It keeps to its same triple rear camera configuration, with a 48MP main camera with a larger sensor than its predecessor.
The Main Camera has a quad-pixel sensor (4×4 pixel-binning), and a new 48MP HEIF shooting mode. The additional computational work on its Photonic Engine also enables a default “super-high resolution” for still images. The camera also comes with “2x better low-light performance”.
The combination of new sensors, new engine, and better performance across the board also grants not one, but three default focal lengths for its Main Camera: 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm-equivalent shooting. These are popular fixed lens ranges for professional photography.
iPhone 15 Pro’s 12MP 3x Telephoto camera now has a 25% larger sensor, but that’s not the only feature. By default, it offers 3x optical zoom like before, offering a focal length of 77m.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max telephoto camera instead gets 5x optical zoom at an equivalent focal length of 120mm. Apple fitted the 5x optical glass structure by creating its “tetraprism” design (their version of a periscope zoom lens). Additional perks supporting its tetraprism design include OIS and sensor-shift stabilisation, which moves the sensor in 3D to maintain stability at 10,000 micro-adjustments per second.
Both 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max also get a 12MP ultra-wide camera with 13mm focal length, packing a new anti-reflective coating, a better Smart HDR, and the return of macro photography capabilities.
ProRes recording now gets 4K60FPS, up from its old 4K30FPS, on top of support for recording directly to an external storage drive. The new Pro series also works directly with Capture One post-processing software, supporting 48MP ProRAW. Log-format encoding is also built-in, which, in turn, supports ACES colour standards.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max prices in Singapore
For the full range of prices on these 2023 Apple smartphones, don’t forget to check out our detailed pricing article.
In Singapore, the iPhone 15 Pro starts at S$1,649 for 128GB, with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB variants also available. The iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at S$,1999 for 256GB, with 512GB and 1TB variants available.
Pre-orders begin on 15 September 2023, with street retail starting on 22 September 2023. Each purchase of iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max comes with three months of free Apple Arcade.
The underlying operating system, iOS 17, will be pushed out as an iPhone update on 18 September 2023.
For those using iCloud, the Apple cloud storage gets new 6TB (S$42.98/month) and 12TB (S$84.98/month) tiers, two higher tiers on top of its existing range of iCloud storage allotment.
