Selfie camera smoothing on new iPhones


It seems each iPhone cycle there's an interest in finding a scandal to bubble up. The idea that the Facetime camera is putting a "beauty filter" on images has gained some traction the week after the phone launched. MacRumors has an interesting explanation for the phenomena.

MacRumors:

When taking a selfie in a situation where lighting is less than ideal, such as indoors or outdoors in areas with lower lighting, the iPhone XS Max appears to be applying a drastic smoothing effect that can hide freckles, blemishes, and other issues.

In full outdoor lighting the problem is less apparent, which has led to speculation that the skin smoothing is actually a result of some heavy-handed noise reduction techniques.