Why are my iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max photos 12 megapixels?

How can I take 48 megapixel photos on iPhone 14 Pro? Why are my iPhone 14 Pro Max pictures only 12MP?

iPhone 14 Pro 48 megapixel photos

By default, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max cameras capture 12-megapixel photos. This is despite the iPhone 14 Pro models having a 48-megapixel image sensor on board. Apple has designed the camera system to utilize quad-pixel binning along with the Photonic Engine to vastly improve low-light iPhone photography. The resulting images are stored as 12 MP photos.

While 12 MP photos may save space, this does not maximize the resolution capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro. It is possible to capture full 48 MP resolution (8064 x 6048 pixels) pictures. Just remember that each image will eat up roughly 85 MB or more of storage.

To take 48 MP photos on iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max follow these steps:
  1. Navigate to Settings -> Camera -> Formats
  2. Toggle Apple ProRAW -> ON (green switch)
  3. Apple ProRAW 48MP capture iPhone 14 Pro
  4. Make sure that ProRAW Resolution is set to 48 MP
  5. Launch the Camera app
  6. In Photo mode, tap the RAW button at top right
  7. iPhone 14 Pro Camera RAW mode capture 48 MP
  8. Photos are now captured at full resolution 48-megapixels