August 24th, 2024

iPhone 16 could let you shoot in JPEG-XL

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are expected to support JPEG-XL, reducing file sizes significantly while enhancing image quality and storage efficiency for high-resolution photos.

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iPhone 16 could let you shoot in JPEG-XL

The upcoming iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are expected to support the JPEG-XL image format, which offers file sizes that are three times smaller than traditional JPEGs. This new feature is part of a broader upgrade to the camera specifications of these devices. JPEG-XL, developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group, utilizes a compression algorithm called Modular Entropy Coding, allowing for both lossy and lossless compression. It can handle images up to 1 terapixel and supports advanced features like HDR and wide color gamuts. The introduction of JPEG-XL is significant as it could help optimize storage, especially with the iPhone's capability to capture 48MP images. While JPEG-XL has not yet achieved widespread adoption, its integration into Apple's ecosystem could enhance its popularity, similar to the earlier adoption of the HEIF format. Currently, JPEG-XL is not fully supported across all platforms, but its potential benefits for image quality and file size make it a promising successor to JPEG.

- iPhone 16 may support JPEG-XL, reducing file sizes by 3x compared to JPEG.

- JPEG-XL offers advanced features like HDR and supports both lossy and lossless compression.

- The format is designed to optimize storage for high-resolution images, such as 48MP photos.

- Widespread adoption of JPEG-XL is still pending, but Apple's support could boost its usage.

- JPEG-XL is seen as a future-proof successor to traditional JPEG, with better compression rates.

Link Icon 8 comments
By @nyanpasu64 - 5 months
I want a return to an enforced norm of different extensions for lossy and lossless files. With the adoption of WebP, I've repeatedly encountered shady CDNs substituting in lossy .webp files in place of lossless .png files, in a way you can't tell by the filetype alone when saving a file (whereas you could tell when saving a .png URL but get a .jpg file instead). I fear the same will happen with .jxl files.
By @jl6 - 5 months
Seems to be just a rumor, but one that I hope is true. I also hope they use it as an opportunity to finally fix the longstanding ugly wart of having Live Photos be a separate .MOV file sitting alongside the HEIC file. JPEG XL is a container format so it should be possible to include the MOV as a separate box alongside the jxlc data and exif metadata. Of course, HEIF had the same capability and they still didn’t use it.
By @AdamJacobMuller - 5 months
is JPEG-XL really an upgrade over HEIC?
By @486sx33 - 5 months
Interestingly, when visiting the JPEG-XL test page referenced in the article, everything renders but the animation at the bottom for JPEG-XL doesn’t move. The others do. iPhone 15 pro on safari
By @jiggawatts - 5 months
In which case Google and Microsoft are sure to immediately cease any work on supporting this open format, just so that they can claim Apple is unfairly preventing interoperability.
By @butz - 5 months
Good luck viewing those on Chrome.
By @guidedlight - 5 months
The JPEG-XL test page (linked in the article), works well.

https://jpegxl.info/test-page/

At the bottom of the page it has animation demonstration, that doesn’t appear to work on my iPhone 13 Pro.

Does JPEG-XL really include animation support?

By @M-Valentino - 5 months
I want a phone that lets you shoot PNG