How to enable Deep Fusion on your iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max

When Apple unveiled the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max models, a feature called Deep Fusion was unveiled. However, the feature was not ready for use at launch. Below we would like to explain how Deep Fusion works and show you how to activate the feature. 

Deep Fusion is a new image processing system that works automatically behind the scenes in certain circumstances. Here’s how Apple describes it:

iOS 13.2 introduces Deep Fusion, an advanced image processing system that uses the A13 Bionic Neural Engine to capture images with dramatically better texture, detail, and reduced noise in lower light

The new Deep Fusion feature is only available on the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max as it relies on the Neural Engine of the A13 Bionic Chip. The function is to improve on an already impressive camera again. But what is Deep Fusion? While Smart HDR can help with nighttime shots and Night Mode, Deep Fusion finds its place somewhere in between. If Deep Fusion is activated on your iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max, the quality of your pictures will be even more enhanced. Apple describes the feature as follows:

Deep Fusion for iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max uses the A13 Bionic Neural Engine. This allows you to take multiple pictures with different exposures and perform a pixel-by-pixel analysis. The highest quality image parts are combined to produce photos with significantly improved textures and details as well as reduced image errors. This is especially true for scenes with medium or poor lighting “.

But how exactly does Deep Fusion work?

If Deep Fusion has been “turned on” in the general settings, the system will only use the function if the system is under medium or poor lighting conditions. So if the camera recognizes that Deep Fusion is needed now, the system will start working in advance. That is, before you press the shutter button, the camera has already taken three shots with fast shutter speed thanks to Deep Fusion. Once you press the shutter button, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, or iPhone 11 Pro Max camera takes another three extended-exposure images to capture more details. Afterwards, all six frames are combined by the Neural Engine of the A13 Bionic Chips. The process goes through several steps to filter out the most details and merge with each other. The best result will be displayed at the end. The entire process takes place within a very short time – the more remarkable is the function.

How is Deep Fusion different from Smart HDR?

As already mentioned, the camera of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will not always use Deep Fusion. Apart from that, not every lens can use it. The telephoto lens will mostly use Deep Fusion unless the picture is created in a very bright scenario. The wide-angle lens uses Deep Fusion only in medium to low light conditions while using Smart HDR on the same track should the pictures be taken in very bright lighting conditions. And what about the ultra-wide-angle lens?

Well, this lens can not use Deep Fusion at all and therefore only uses Smart HDR. If pictures are taken at night, the new night mode is used – you can find more about that here .Due to the fact that Deep Fusion requires a lot of computing power, the feature is only available for the 2019 iPhone series. Older devices would fail when trying to execute Deep Fusion.

How to enable Deep Fusion on your iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max

Make sure you’ve updated your iPhone 11, 11 Pro, or 11 Pro Max to iOS 13.2.

Unfortunately, the configuration of Deep Fusion failed somewhat. Maybe Apple will fix this in a later update. Open the iOS settings and navigate further down to the menu item “Camera”. In Composition you will find three options. Make sure the first option – “Out of Frame Photo” – is disabled. It is in conflict with Deep Fusion. When enabled, the system can not rely on Deep Fusion – so it is important to keep this item off. So the night mode is used on the iPhone 11 & iPhone 11 Pro.