so I noticed something weird with the
iPhone 10's max that I've been using
that on here Jack is that my actual skin
tone couldn't feel about that now if
you're following me on social media
which you should be for these findings
then you know that recently I posted a
photo a selfie that I shot on the iPhone
10's max I felt somehow the device was
putting me in some kind of automatic
beauty mode almost some kind of smooth
skin effect was happening and I was like
am I crazy am I the only one seeing this
so I did a quick search and I found a
few different threads on reddit where
other people were having similar
findings in like men I look like a
porcelain doll or a plastic figure when
I take a selfie on the iPhone 10s or 10s
max so at first I was like let me get to
the bottom of this this is probably some
kind of processing thing that I can turn
off I can just dive into the menus like
on other phones that have Beauty modes
right like on Samsung or wall and so
maybe I can just toggle that down to
zero but of course there's no mention of
beauty mode because Apple never admitted
to doing any kind of beauty mode instead
the only processing they talked about
was this smart HDR so I went into the
settings I found the smart HDR toggle
and I turn that off to see if it made
much of a difference and it turns out it
didn't so whatever type of processing is
happening that whatever Apple is doing
on these new phones is kind of outside
the realm or extra to the smart HDR
functionality and analysis of the photo
that's about to be taken so anyhow let's
talk about the phones I have in front of
me here the far left here I have the
iPhone 10 regular previous generation
iPhone 10 selfie just shot in this
environment as I sit here right now next
to that is the 10s max that I've been
using and evaluating this one here is in
the standard 10s and then on the far
side here I have an iPhone 6 because why
not let's see what Apple and iPhone
selfies look like all the way
so I'm assuming you're seeing what I'm
seeing here on the 10s Max and the 10s
it's like this weird smooth effect going
on this photo here is with the smart HDR
turned on so for me this is the most
aggressive smoothing of the bunch in the
cheek area here just the complexion in
general is so uniform it's just like
this kind of makeup it looks like makeup
it looks like a beauty mode to be honest
in my interpretation now to the left
there believe it or not this is with
smart HDR turned off so I was hoping
that that would fix the problem it may
tone it down a little bit and give you
slightly more contrast slightly more
shadow but it's nowhere near what we
were getting on the iPhone 10 even the
iPhone 6 I actually have eyebrows which
I promise I have in real life so it
looks like whatever processing is going
on here with the facial recognition and
this smart HDR and then whatever extras
are there because it's even happening
with smart HDR turned off is resulting
in this almost covert beauty mode that's
going on this secret beauty mode in what
some people on reddit are actually
calling Beauty gate but here's the thing
I know where this conversation goes you
start to say to yourself why would they
need a beauty mode who really wants a
beauty mode we'll ask yourself white do
all those other manufacturers have
beauty modes turns out it's a popular
feature in certain markets you know
maybe people want to be smoothed out so
you start to reverse engineer the
decision and and try to figure out who
apples going after and why they would
make such a drastic change in how their
selfie camera is processing human beings
now the crazy part about this is there's
no toggle for me it's like fine if you
want to look beautiful and you and you
want to have a beauty mode so be it
you can turn it off but if you're in the
realm of editing and making yourself
look a particular way sure toggle that
slider up but without having the slider
it's like it's like everyone has to
accept this beauty look and then what
people turn around and this just becomes
the new norm it's just like oh I didn't
I didn't do anything now there's some
other things happening in these images
you know these ones look a little more
washed out to me
shirt for example is I mean it's really
not this color it's much darker when I
hold this up if I go to take a photo
it's doing its analysis of me right now
it's putting the makeup on my face I
don't know if jack can pick that up I do
not look like that that's weird let me
snap this photo I look like I'm wearing
foundation it's very weird it's so weird
my beer is not one color in this it kind
of comes out there's an analysis tape
but I don't know this might not be
strictly software this might not be
something that can just be toggled off
with the switch I hope that's not the
case in fact if I hold my hand in front
of my face
the whole color temperature of the image
it changes and then as it sees my face
pop in then I get the rosy cheeks and
the smooth complexion so it feels like
software I hope it's just software we're
gonna have to wait and see so look is
this the biggest deal in the world I
don't know it depends on how important
this front-facing camera is to you do
you if you use it to capture your
memories or post a billion selfies then
you probably want to know about this and
like people in the office have said
maybe some people actually prefer this
image in the middle here on the new 10s
and 10's max now that you can see these
four separate images from the exact same
environment which one do you find to be
the most pleasing or which one would you
want to post of yourself I want to know
down in the comments either way here's
my plea to Apple like I don't care if
you have this amazing neural processing
smart HDR facial analysis stuff going on
that's fine that's great but just make
it make it an option - turn it off -
turn it off completely when you buy the
phone that's on by default so if I go
back to the camera app you see there's
no indication that an HDR photo a smart
HDR photo is about to take place
the vast majority of people are just
gonna pop open this device start
snapping selfies and just assume they're
as beautiful as they look there it is
Beauty gate the hidden beauty mode that
you can't turn off you should know that
before you purchase one of these if
you're a big selfie taker and you want
to live your best realist life I don't
know you might you might go for an
iPhone
instead I'm just saying
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.