Apple's iPhone 13 series is expected to be announced in September and acclaimed Apple leaker Mark Gurman for Bloomberg says they will come with a few major camera and video improvements as the primary selling points. 

The recent report specifically details the "modest" nature of the upcoming iPhone upgrade cycle, harking back to the fact that the current iPhone 12 series just received a major bodily redesign featuring flat edges and the introduction of a LiDAR sensor on the Pro line. In terms of what we should expect to see on the iPhone 13, Gurman says that the updated chassis will remain relatively the same, although he does confirm rumours of a smaller 'notch' making its debut this year. 

As per the specifics of the report, Gurman mentions three features Apple plans to market as some of the "biggest selling points" for this years' model. The first is the expansion of Portrait mode to video, meaning that the ultra-realistic bokeh effect Apple and other companies have been refining over the years to make smartphone shots mimic the look and feel of a real DSLR camera is going full-time.

It's clear Apple has been working on this for a while in some fashion, as FaceTime in the iOS 15 betas already activates a version of Portrait mode on the front-facing camera when video chatting. According to the report, Apple plans on dubbing this feature "Cinematic video".

In terms of the other two features, Gurman explains how Apple is planning on adding an even higher-quality capture mode to video, called ProRes, which should be similar to last years introduction of ProRAW. In case you aren't familiar, ProRAW allows iPhone 12 Pro users to capture photographs in a true RAW format, meaning professional and hobbyist photo editors alike can take more control of their shots and refine their edits similar to if they were working with photos coming from a top of the line DSLR camera. 

The final feature mentioned is expected to be a new photo filtering process that works with AI, which should be a major change from the very basic and current filter experience on iPhone, where software overlaps the entire screen offering a certain effect. According to the report, iPhone 13 models will instead use AI to apply filters only to specific parts of the image, while tuning other aspects such as the sky or background to stay more neutral. 

It's unclear how exactly this new photo filter feature with AI will actually look in practice, but considering the massive advancements Apple has been making in software-based improvements to its camera tech, it's fair to assume the feature will make for some awesomely unique shots.   

If you're interested in reading more about all the current iPhone 13 rumours, check out our roundup right here.