Apple runs commercial showing off Portrait Lighting mode

Apple shared a new video highlighting Portrait Lighting mode, a camera feature currently exclusive to the iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus. Portrait Lighting offers a variety of lighting effects designed to simulate studio photography. Portrait mode itself blurs the background behind the subject, giving the appearance of bokeh.

Bokeh in photographs is traditionally captured using single-lens reflex (SLR) camera lenses. Apple offers five different Portrait Lighting mode effects, which can be used to enhance portraits after capture:

  • Natural Light
  • Studio Light
  • Contour Light
  • Stage Light
  • Stage Light Mono

The commercial shows off these studio-quality lighting effects, which use complex algorithms to determine how an individual's face will interact with light. iOS then uses this data to create the lighting effects.

Portrait mode was first introduced with the iPhone 7 Plus. The iPhone X is the first device capable of taking Portrait mode images using the front camera, thanks to the TrueDepth sensor system. The iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus can only achieve this effect using the dual rear cameras in unison.

Apple's latest ad is titled "A New Light" and features an excerpt of the song D.Y.T. (Do Your Thing) by NVDES & REMMI.