Home
News
You are here

Apple: yeah, the iPhone 8 could do Animoji, but they would be lousy Animoji

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Nov 16, 2017, 7:06 AM

Apple has responded to the tempest in a teapot that resulted when the TrueDepth camera was covered in a review, and Animoji still worked, by saying that, yeah, it would somehow work, but the experience won't be the full quality its developers strive for.

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, it turns out, which also have the A11 Bionic processor and ARKit support, could have in theory been enabled for Animoji, but the resulting facial expression tracking would be nowhere near the level achieved with the depth mapping available on the iPhone X. That is why Apple isn't offering Animoji on the iPhone 8, as this is their flagship demo of what the inimitable TrueDepth camera set is capable of.

You can cover the IR camera of the iPhone X, for instance, and see your Animoji stop working in low light for an idea what would the experience be on an iPhone 8, not to mention the depth-mapping algorithms that can transliterate every nook and cranny of your face into a talking fox. The moral of Apple's reply seems to be that, yes, Animoji could work only with a selfie camera, but the level of unsurpassed mimicking detail and consistent performance in all lighting conditions wouldn't be up to Apple's standards, hence you only have them enabled on the iPhone X.

Update: Talked to Apple about Animoji: It does actually use data from the IR and depth sensors for better accuracy. Apple told me they wouldn’t want a worse Animoji experience for other iPhones without those sensors. Props to @reneritchie for this article: https://t.co/Yml7SQ54Eq
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) 15 ноември 2017 г.

$20 /mo

$25

$5 off (20%)

Offer Ends 6.1.2026 at 11.59pm ET. New members get $5/mo off the $25/mg Visible plan, $35/mo Visible+ plan, or $45/mo Visible+ Pro plan for the first 12 months. Promo code FRESHSTART required at checkout.

Buy at Visible

View Full Bio

Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.