Apple iPhone 8 SmartCamera With Real-Time AI Scene Detection Revealed In Firmware Leak

Apple’s uncharacteristic HomePod firmware leak continues to bear fruit pertaining to the upcoming iPhone 8 release. We’ve already learned quite a lot about Apple’s next-generation flagship including the shape of the device (at least from the front) and its front-facing infrared cameras that are used for facial recognition, but now we’re learning a little bit more about the cameras that will be employed on the back of the smartphone.

Developer Guilherme Rambo has uncovered references to a feature called “Smart Camera” lurking within the HomePod’s firmware. This feature is expected to use artificial intelligence (AI) and object recognition to determine what type of scene is being represented and automatically adjust the camera’s settings based on its findings.

It’s been noted that the Photos app in iOS already makes use of such object recognition, but this takes place after a picture has already been taken. This auto-sorting of images makes it easier to search for people and makes organizing your photos far easier. However, it is expected that the iPhone 8 will use its AI horsepower to perform these calculations in real-time.

iOS 11 (or the next iPhone) will have something called SmartCam. It will tune camera settings based on the scene it detects pic.twitter.com/7duyvh5Ecj

— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 2, 2017

The code lurking within iOS 11 suggests that the iPhone 8 will be able to recognize pets, babies, snow, a sunset, fireworks, and foliage. Interestingly enough, such capabilities were not talked about during the wide-ranging iOS 11 discussion at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), which leads us to believe that these features are specific to the iPhone 8 and its dual-camera system. After all, Apple will need some “exclusives” to get folks to bypass the expected iPhone 7s iPhone 7s Plus to hop into the more expensive iPhone 8.

Expect to see more leaks in the coming weeks as Apple is expected to finally lift the veil on its next-generation flagship sometime in September.