Apple has just unveiled the iPhone 17 series, with the premium Pro model featuring a chassis crafted from a single piece of aluminum, a larger battery, a new “vapor chamber” for cooling, and a display that’s three times more scratch resistant, among other improvements.
But as always, the tech giant has focused heavily on boosting the camera specs, with all three rear cameras given a 48-megapixel sensor, and the telephoto camera getting an 8x optical lens (up from 5x). The iPhone 17 Pro also has a new 18-megapixel Center Stage front-facing camera featuring a square sensor with a wider field of view, supporting portrait or landscape selfies while holding the phone vertically.
But Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro launch video also showcased a new genlock feature — supported by Blackmagic’s Camera ProDock and compatible apps — that allows you to precisely synchronize video across multiple cameras to create stunning effects, just like the unforgettable bullet time scene in The Matrix where time appears to freeze as the camera moves around the action in slow motion.
Apple included a striking example in its launch video for the iPhone 17 Pro — you can watch it in the clip that’s teed up and ready to go at the top of this page.
As you can see, the effect requires multiple iPhone 17 Pros capturing the same scene from slightly different angles to create the final effect.
Now, if you’re thinking, “I’m sure Danny Boyle created a similar bullet time effect for a scene in 28 Years Later using a bunch of older iPhone 15 Pro cameras that most definitely do not have the genlock feature,” then give yourself a pat on the back. You’re absolutely right.
The difference here is that Boyle’s scene captured different perspectives in real time but without the cameras being synchronized at the hardware level, leaving the scene to be built by an editor.
The iPhone 17 Pro’s genlock feature allows for precise video synchronization with other cameras by using an external synchronization signal (genlock) to keep the video frames perfectly timed across multiple cameras, eliminating flickering, tearing, or video jump issues.
Simply put, it’s a more professional setup that offers better results. The downside is that you’ll need a lot of iPhone 17 Pros to try it out!
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.
For years, Samsung’s Galaxy A phones have been some of the easiest recommendations for anyone who wants to go the Android route without paying flagship prices. But that part of the lineup could soon become harder to find at a good price.
According to South Korea’s Electronic Times, Samsung is cutting Galaxy A production by about 20% in the fourth quarter compared to its original plans. Component orders have reportedly dropped by a similar amount, which could mean roughly 10 million fewer phones over the year. Samsung is also said to be considering another production cut of more than 10% next year.