AVFoundation: full-resolution Quad Bayer RAW capture path for third-party computational photography? (FB25352517)

Thanks for filing FB25352517, and for laying out the use case so clearly.

Yes. Your report is an enhancement request, which is the way to ask for a new capture capability like this. I checked on it, and it's open and under investigation.

Your report already describes the use case and the kinds of support you'd want. A few additions would make it more specific:

• The devices and cameras you need this on.
• Whether you capture single frames or bursts, and the burst length and frame rate your pipeline needs.
• The exact per-frame values your pipeline depends on, such as the color filter layout, black and white levels, exposure and ISO, and timestamps for alignment.
• A short sample that shows what the current Bayer RAW path returns on a specific device and iOS version.

If other developers need the same capability, filing their own enhancement requests helps engineering understand the demand.

Please note that filing an enhancement request does not guarantee Apple will add any requested functionality to Apple products in the future. However, with that said, filing an enhancement request is a good way to get your ideas in front of the folks who make decisions about that sort of thing. Bug Reporting: How and Why? has tips on creating your report.

Thank you for confirming FB25352517 is open and under investigation, and for naming the four specifics: devices and cameras, single vs burst, per-frame values, and a sample of the current path. In your order:

this supplement has been added to FB25352517 via Add More Information.

(a) Devices and cameras. Primary: iPhone 18 Pro Max — and iPhone 18 Pro, with the identical camera system (Apple Tech Specs). All three 48MP Fusion cameras: 1) Fusion Telephoto, 48MP, 100mm (4x), ƒ/2.8 — the core ask; 2) Fusion Main, 48MP, 24mm, variable ƒ/1.48–ƒ/4.0, as the comparison camera; 3) Fusion Ultra Wide, 48MP, 13mm, ƒ/2.2. In API terms: any camera where availableRawPhotoPixelFormatTypes today returns only binned Bayer RAW formats.

(b) Bursts. Adobe Research documents Project Indigo merging up to 32 RAW frames per photo, aligned to a reference frame. INFERRED requirement: at least 15 frames, ideally up to 32, at full telephoto resolution, sustained and gap-free at the stream's native cadence (15 = shipped count in Google's published handheld multi-frame SR work; 32 = Indigo's documented ceiling; Adobe publishes no Indigo frame rate). The crop math: at 12x (3x crop of the 4x telephoto), today's 12MP binned stream starts from ~1.33MP per frame, at 16x (4x crop) from ~0.75MP. From a full-res 48MP stream: ~5.3MP and ~3MP.

(c) Per-frame values. See the table. Every value must describe the 48MP readout delivered, not the binned mode. One blocker today: exact exposure and ISO are only guaranteed at speed prioritisation; balanced and quality hand exposure to Apple's fusion pipeline.

(d) What the current path returns. Plainly: no public Bayer RAW characterization of the iPhone 18 Pro Max telephoto exists. On the closest documented devices, the path returns a single-frame, 12MP-class, mosaiced CFA DNG; 48MP exists only as ProRAW (linear, demosaiced). Reeflex's FAQ states that 12MP Bayer cap (iPhone 14/15 Pro series). Published readouts: iPhone 11 Pro telephoto, Halide II, iOS 18.0.1 (ExifTool) — Color Filter Array, 1 sample per pixel, BlackLevel 528. iPhone 12 Pro main, Halide, iOS 14.3 era — BlackLevel 528, WhiteLevel 4095. The same author's ProRAW file reads BlackLevel 0 and WhiteLevel 65535.

Decode path, part of the request: the WWDC26 panel (session 8018) said Quad Bayer DNG output needs CIRAWFilter decode support. The ask is the trio: full-res capture format, a defined DNG representation (4x4 CFA layout and levels), and CIRAWFilter Quad Bayer decode.

Every figure above traces to the published sources named in the text.