Apple’s iPhone 17 will forever change how we take selfies – including on Android phones

We at all times knew folks took quite a lot of selfies, however when Apple unveiled its 2025 fall gadgets, it revealed that iPhone customers had taken over 500 billion selfies up to now yr. Since there are about 1.5 billion iPhone customers on the planet, that is a mean of about 330 selfies a yr per individual.

No surprise Apple determined to reimagine how the front-facing digicam works on the iPhone this yr.

Within the course of, Apple additionally gave the selfie digicam an enormous improve in picture high quality. For these of us who take quite a lot of selfies, that is welcome information as a result of the front-facing digicam has been the weakest hyperlink among the many iPhone cameras for years. And as Apple’s information exhibits, it might be probably the most used digicam on the cellphone for many of us. 

Additionally: I’ve reviewed every iPhone 17 model, and my advice is something different this year

Apple gave all 4 telephones within the iPhone 17 lineup the identical improve to the selfie digicam by taking it from a 12MP rectangular sensor to a 24MP sq. sensor that may take an 18MP picture in both horizontal or vertical orientation. 

Actually, one of many coolest issues in regards to the new front-facing digicam is that as quickly as you invoke it, a brand new button pops up referred to as the Middle Stage button and once you faucet it then it switches your photograph between vertical and horizontal modes with out you need to flip the digicam round. In different phrases, you possibly can maintain it whichever method is most comfy for you — usually vertical for most individuals — and the software program will do all of the work. 

Even higher, you possibly can click on the Middle Stage settings on the prime of the window and activate Auto Zoom and Auto Rotate. With that, the iPhone will now use AI to robotically determine all of the folks in your shot by placing bins round their faces after which it is going to robotically swap between vertical and horizontal and extensive and ultrawide to suit everybody within the shot.

Whereas Apple makes use of “Middle Stage” branding for its new selfie digicam, it is much more highly effective than the Middle Stage function on Mac and iPad that merely retains you within the heart of the body on video calls. 

Additionally: I tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and here’s one big reason for a year-over-year upgrade

Actually, Apple’s new selfie digicam within the iPhone 17 lineup is clearly the neatest selfie digicam on the planet. It is so good that it is robust to return to utilizing a static selfie digicam on older iPhones and on Android telephones. With that in thoughts, I’d not be shocked to see Android cellphone makers undertake the sq. selfie sensor of their smartphones in 2026 and past. 

Apple went from lagging different flagship smartphones – which have been utilizing 24MP selfie cameras since as early as 2018 — to leapfrogging all of them in a single technology of telephones. 

I have been testing the brand new selfie cameras on the assorted fashions of the iPhone 17 lineup for the previous a number of weeks and I am pleased to report that it really works in addition to marketed and the entrance sensor is now worthy of taking high-quality pictures and never simply fast pictures to put up on social media.