Instagram is already responsible for most of us normal smartphone users thinking we're actually super talented photographers, and we're about to be even more convinced thanks to a new feature on the iPhone 7: portrait mode.
Joining features like panorama and live photos, portrait mode mimics the depth of field of a professional SLR camera, blurring the background of photos and essentially making that picture of Sunday brunch look even more on point.
Here's how it works. Once you've selected portrait mode on the camera, your iPhone screen will give instructions, whether that's taking a step back from the subject or getting more light into the shot. When you get it just right, a little yellow "Depth Effect" tag appears, meaning the subject is perfectly in focus while the background is artfully blurred. From there, you can tweak the results live on the screen.
While this isn't a "true" depth of field (iPhone lenses are still too small), it does a pretty good job of mimicking it. Technically, Instagram users could already fake this effect using something called "Tilt Shift" in the app, but now iPhone owners can blur any time, anywhere. Well, that is if you're using it in the public beta. The feature won't officially roll out until later this year, according to Select All.
Sounds like your holiday 'grams are going to be even more magical.
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