Apple and Google disagree on what a photo is

Artificial Intelligence has taken the world by storm. Companies like Apple and Google have been actively implementing AI features into their latest smartphones, such as photo manipulators, text summarizers, and much more. The Google Pixel 9 event was undoubtedly packed with these perks, raising the bar for Apple in the process. Weeks later, the iPhone 16 was revealed, and, to the surprise of many, it doesn’t offer any heavy AI photo editing features. An Apple VP has now shared what he thinks a photo is, highlighting the stark contrast between Apple’s philosophy and that of Google.

Google is providing its users with the needed tools to capture over-glamorized memories that aren’t always realistic. You can swap people’s faces, change the background’s colors, insert or remove objects, add yourself to a group photo, and so on. These features all enable users to store perfected pictures of what could’ve been an ideal day. Given that we live in a far-from-ideal universe, however, these heavily edited shots don’t always reveal the authentic stories behind them.

On the other hand, Apple is sticking to traditional photography concepts while offering support for edits that enhance the shots without completely wrecking their essence. So, instead of letting users swap faces and merge the best ones, it allows them to scroll through the different frames captured by a Live Photo to pick one where everyone is looking at the camera. Similarly, the new Apple Intelligence Clean Up tool lets users remove intruders or dust particles from photos without heavily manipulating the context of the shot. In a statement to The Verge, Apple’s VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack said:

Here’s our view of what a photograph is. The way we like to think of it is that it’s a personal celebration of something that really, actually happened.

Whether that’s a simple thing like a fancy cup of coffee that’s got some cool design on it, all the way through to my kid’s first steps, or my parents’ last breath, It’s something that really happened. It’s something that is a marker in my life, and it’s something that deserves to be celebrated.

And that is why when we think about evolving in the camera, we also rooted it very heavily in tradition. Photography is not a new thing. It’s been around for 198 years. People seem to like it. There’s a lot to learn from that. There’s a lot to rely on from that.

Think about stylization, the first example of stylization that we can find is Roger Fenton in 1854 — that’s 170 years ago. It’s a durable, long-term, lasting thing. We stand proudly on the shoulders of photographic history.

So, unlike Google, Apple wants a photo to capture a moment that truly happened rather than make up flawless memories. McCormack emphasizes the influence of traditional photography, asserting its reliability and timelessness. Consequently, it’s safe to assume that iOS won’t offer any AI-powered wacky editing tools anytime soon.