This December 31, here’s your chance to step into the silent, foam-lined world of Apple’s secret labs, where the future of smartphone photography and videography is being meticulously crafted. During an exclusive visit, Patrick Holland from CNET plunged into the heart of the Apple campus in Cupertino, where the audio and video technologies of the iPhone are born.
From the eerie silence of the anechoic chamber to cutting-edge video calibration facilities, let’s find out how Apple has pushed the boundaries on its latest models.
Secret laboratories
Apple’s laboratories consist of:
- Anechoic chamber: this room, lined with foam shims, eliminates echoes to test the iPhone’s four microphones. Ruchir Dave, Apple’s senior acoustics director, explained that the goal is to capture realistic sound. They developed a new microphone component and features like Audio Mix for creative audio control.
- Audio tests: These use speakers to play sounds around a rotating iPhone to map sound in 3D, facilitating features like spatial audio.
- Soundproof Studios: Here they compare audio playback to ensure consistency.
- Video Calibration Lab: A large screen mimics various lighting conditions to check how videos look on iPhone screens.
Photo of the iPhone 16 Pro in an anechoic chamber. © CNETAudio
At the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, a unique long-wave anechoic chamber, covered with foam to eliminate echoes, was demonstrated. Here, the iPhone’s four microphones are tested to ensure they capture professional-quality audio despite their compact size. This chamber helps create a sound profile that supports features like spatial audio and audio mixing, allowing users to edit audio after recording to mimic different microphone setups.
Testing doesn’t stop at microphones; Apple uses a sophisticated setup where speakers emit chimes around a rotating iPhone to map sound in three dimensions, which is crucial for spatial audio and noise reduction features. In another part of the lab, soundproof studios are used for comparative audio playback testing, where various testers help calibrate the iPhone’s audio output to ensure it is consistent and of high quality in different environments.
The video
The video verification lab is equally impressive according to our colleague at CNET, resembling a small theater where engineers adjust the appearance of videos in varying lighting conditions, from sunlight to dark rooms. This lab ensures that video playback on iPhone, including the new 4K slow motion feature at 120 frames per second, looks spectacular wherever you are. The work carried out by Apple’s teams is essential to maintain the iPhone’s advantage in video quality against competitors like Samsung and Google, which have also made progress in this area. Google has often been ahead of Apple in terms of photography in recent years, before the latter took back control since the iPhone 15 Pro.
Complex under the hood, not on the surface
Behind these features is extensive engineering work aimed at simplifying complex technology for users. The Audio Mix feature, for example, allows users to edit audio as if they were using professional equipment, while the 4K slow motion feature processes nearly a billion pixels per second, showcasing the prowess of the iPhone when it comes to video recording.
This behind-the-scenes passage from Patrick Holland is ultimately a great advertisement for Apple that demonstrates its expertise and commitment to ensuring that every iPhone can capture and play audio and video in the highest quality possible. Perfect in a world full of YouTubers, TikTokers, Instagramers and other podcasters…
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