Anker Unveils First MFI Certified iPhone Flash: Could This Be the Beginning of "Pro" Lighting for Smartphones?

Anker Unveils First MFI Certified iPhone Flash: Could This Be the Beginning of "Pro" Lighting for Smartphones?

I'm expecting a certain degree of hate because of the title for this article, but hear me out first.

A company called Anker who are better known for their portable charges has very recently unveiled the first every MFI certified iPhone flash. This means that we now have the very first natively supported external flash for the iPhone. This may seem like it's not a big deal especially considering all of the other lighting accessories currently on the market. The difference however is that this is now natively supported with both hardware and software on the iPhone. We may start to see more companies and even more experienced companies producing natively supported lighting equipment for the iPhone. This in my mind does provide huge potential for the iPhone when it comes to producing better quality images. 

The iPhone is the most used camera in the world and although I don't think it's going to take over professional use anytime soon or maybe even ever, it is still filling a certain gap. Point and shoot cameras have pretty much become a thing of a past now and more people would rather shoot with their smartphones instead. The other thing to consider is that smartphone cameras have been improving in quality by significant degrees year on year. This is not the same for professional cameras and with continued improvements to computational photography, the gap between smartphones and pro cameras could close enough that it matters. Once again, I highly doubt that smartphone cameras could take over any professional ground anytime soon; however, the enthusiast market could be up for grabs. 

I'd love to know your thoughts on this. Do you think this could open doors for people to shoot with better quality lights with their smartphones? 

Usman Dawood's picture

Usman Dawood is a professional architectural photographer based in the UK.

Log in or register to post comments
7 Comments

Small enough to persuade my wife to tote around in her purse. I'd experiment with one.

Gotta love how nanotechnology is changing the world. I wonder if this is how my great-grands felt about witnessing those newfangled flying machines. :)

nanotechnology

/ˌnanə(ʊ)tɛkˈnɒlədʒi/

noun

the branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometres, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.

I’ve just bought an iPhone 11 Pro, the camera is surprisingly good.. this is a quick shot I took yesterday whilst out with the proper camera (or toy camera for those that hate on APS-C mirrorless). It’s quite detailed even zoomed in and I was handheld in average light.

Could this be the beginning? No. That has already happened. Could this be the first you have seen? I guess it was.

Godox has had a smartphone flash for years. The A1 is not only a flash, but also a trigger and has a modeling light. It can trigger strobes or speedlights and works with every other Godox light.

This is a toy compared to that, and the A1 has been out for like 2-3 years.

I would say the ”Beginning of Pro Lightning for Smartphones” started with the Profoto C1-series. Together with the Profoto 2.0 app I dare to say it’s the best solution as Smartphone flashes goes. ...and it’s wireless with built in remote trigger...

Yet again a profoto fanboi rewriting history. The Godox A1 was out for like 2 years before profoto came along with their limp dick solution that isnt even half as good. Let me guess though, Godox copied profoto by going back in time 2 years and coming out with a product first right? Just like all the other times Godox came out with a product first and then everyone said they copied profoto even though profoto came out years later.....

A brighter LED....not really a flash as much as a flashlight is a flash