An iPhone with three cameras is at least a year away. But Apple will have its work cut out for them as evidenced by a jaw-dropping photo of the Milky Way made with Huawei P20 Pro.

Daniel K. Cheong, a photographer based in the United Arab Emirates, had a clear, star-studded sky on a recent trip to Reunion Island where he made the picture below with Huawei’s new flagship handset mounted on a tripod.

Huawei P20 Pro sets the bar

Many smartphone makers, including Apple, are rumored to be eyeing 2019 to release triple-camera models, but Huawei, in a partnership with legendary camera maker, Leica, became the first in May with the P20 Pro.

Shortly after Huawei’s new phone was released, it received the highest score (109) of any smartphone camera from DxOMark, which measures digital camera quality and performance. The iPhone X had an overall score of 97, including a 101 for still photographs.

Cheong has carried the P20 Pro for there months and told the photography website PitaPexel that he has been impressed with the Huawei’s low-light performance.

“I have shot many cityscapes handheld (about four seconds exposure) and the results were amazing,” Cheong said. The sky over Reunion Island was “free of light pollution, so it was the ideal conditions to test astrophotographers with the Huawei P20 Pro.”

According to PetaPixel, Cheong set his device to the Camera Pro mode, which allows users to manually set f-stops, shutter speeds, and ISO. Cheong’s successful image required a 20-second exposure with the ISO set to 1600 and the lens at f/1.8.

He recorded it on a DNG raw file, which he then adjusted for white balance, contrast, noise reduction and clarity in Adobe Camera Raw.

Investors and tech journalists who follow Apple have speculated the iPhone will have three cameras by 2019 as the company expands its augmented reality features. Others have suggested a third lens will be part of a new 3D sensing technology to determine the distance of a subject from the iPhone from different angles.

Much of the speculation has originated from sources in the supply chain with manufacturers reportedly making preparations for triple-camera components for several brands in 2019.

Source: PetaPixel