Apple has launched the ProRAW RAW photo file format as part of the iOS 143 update, giving owners of the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max access to a higher quality, more extensively editable image format

Much like shooting RAW photos with the best DSLRs, snapping in ProRAW yields uncompressed photos with much deeper color depth than the JPEG format; the trade-off with RAW is larger image files and the lack of the benefit of additional processing effects such as HDR processing effects such as HDR ProRAW differs, however, in that it allows for certain calculated photographic enhancements, such as noise reduction and Apple's Smart HDR

In other words, photos taken with ProRAW, although the file size will be huge, combine the deep editing potential of traditional RAW photos with a touch of sophistication that can serve as a starting point for further editing or a convenient set of off-the-shelf enhancements

Setting up the iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro Max to shoot in ProRAW is simple: open "Settings," scroll down to the "Camera" menu, select "Format," and hit the "Apple ProRaw" toggle Next, open the Camera app and you will see a small RAW button Tap this to enable or disable ProRAW mode

ProRAW photos can be edited right on the iPhone, but to get the most out of your shots, we recommend a serious photo editor like Adobe Lightroom

RAW images contain far more detail and color than JPEG images and can look much better with some editing However, because they have not been processed, they may initially appear punchy

Since such fine-tuning can be a complex process, ProRAW streamlines it by adding slight processing effects, creating a very clever compromise It will be interesting to see if this will encourage more amateur smartphone photographers to get serious about capturing and editing the perfect shot, and if rivals like Samsung and Google will follow suit

We have yet to test ProRAW, but for now it looks like it could be an interesting tool that brings smartphone photography one step closer to SLR-quality photos