Your iPhone absolutely is a ‘real camera’ and anyone who says otherwise is WRONG and here’s why

Writing about iPhones for a living attracts a fair few naysayers. Although I also write about Androids, I get the odd comment from people saying I’m an iPhone fangirl. Whatever, I can live with that. But what I see with far more frequency is the outrage, derision and scoffing that the iPhone is not a ‘REAL’ camera and anyone who uses it is therefore not a real photographer – whatever that means.

The first thing I want to say to anyone who feels desperately compelled to say this to a stranger on the internet or comment on a shared article is, essentially, grow up. It’s 2026, the argument that phone cameras aren’t anything other than excellent nowadays is just plain stupid, and worse than that, boring. I’m in no doubt that I’m a real photographer, and the camera I use without a doubt most often is my iPhone – currently I’m using the iPhone 18 Pro. It’s not only because it’s always with me, but it’s also because it’s great at what it does.

But, let’s play ball a bit here and examine exactly why these silly comments are wrong. If it makes you feel more like a real photographer if you use an iPhone, great, and if it makes you think twice about saying stupid things if you desperately want to be seen as a ‘real’ photographer, then double great.

iPhone 18 Pro · f/1.8 · 1/8000s · 6.9299998280517mm · ISO80

Size matters

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