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Apple's iPhone 13 could feature game-changing video tech

With the announcement of the iPhone 13 (we hope) fast approaching, you'd be forgiven for thinking every major rumour and leak about the upcoming smartphone was already well and truly out. But a tantalising new tidbit has just emerged, and it could be brilliant news for creatives – especially filmmakers.

We've already heard that the iPhone 13 will see improvements to the camera (hardly surprising, let's be honest), but a new report suggests a huge new feature could be coming to video: Portrait mode. There are already plenty of iPhones among our best camera phones, but this could be a game-changer for videographers.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (a seasoned Apple leaker), Apple is readying new iPhones with a "video version of the phone's Portrait mode feature". The company is also said to have implemented the ability to record video in a higher-quality format called ProRes.

Portrait mode was first introduced with 2016's iPhone 7 Plus, and adds a bokeh blur effect to the background of photographs, mimicking the effect of much larger cameras such as DSLRs. "For the new iPhones," Gurman claims, "Apple plans to add this same technique to video with a feature internally dubbed Cinematic Video."

iPhone portrait mode — Portrait mode has been available for photos since 2016 (Image credit: Apple)

It's not surprising that Apple has apparently gone with the word 'Cinematic' – that's exactly how videos filmed in Portrait mode ought to look. While bokeh-infused photos have been achievable for a while now on iPhone, video has somewhat lagged behind, leaving users to rely on tools such as Filmic Pro to achieve a software-based version of the effect (check out our guide to Filmic Pro if you fancy getting to grips with the filmmaking app). But new hardware-based capabilities, along with brilliant apps like this, could mean better-looking video than ever.

From a much bigger battery to a much narrower notch, rumours suggest the next generation of iPhones is set to prove a worthy upgrade. And if its video capabilities are able to rival even a few of the best cameras, that sounds pretty impressive to us. Don't fancy waiting? Check out today's best iPhone 12 deals below, and head to the Apple Back to School sale for more offers.

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Daniel Piper is senior news editor at Creative Bloq, and an authority on all things art, design, branding and tech. He has a particular penchant for Apple products – some corners of the internet might call him an 'iSheep', but he's fine with this. It doesn't bother him at all. Why would it? They're just really nicely designed products, okay? Daniel is also a comedian and national poetry slam champion, and his favourite Bond is, obviously, Sean Connery.