IPhone Photography Awards: Older Models Win Top Prizes
What You Need to Know
- IPhone Photography Awards 2026 Grand Prize won with iPhone 15 Pro, a two-year-old device.
- Gold Prize captured on iPhone X, a phone Apple discontinued years ago.
- Competition open to iPhone and iPad users worldwide with entries edited using iOS apps.
- 2027 competition deadline is March 31, demonstrating older iPhones remain competitive for photography.
The iPhone Photography Awards has spent 19 years making the case that the camera in your pocket is enough. The 2026 winners, announced this week, continue that argument with some quietly inconvenient evidence for Apple’s marketing department.
The Grand Prize went to Robyn Jensen for a dramatic volcanic eruption shot in the Cayman Islands, captured on an iPhone 15 Pro. That’s a two-year-old device, not the current flagship. The Gold Prize, taken by Gellért Gombai, shows two children asleep in the shadow of a badminton racket, shot in black and white on an iPhone X, a phone Apple stopped selling years ago.
The Silver and Bronze winners were shot on iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models, so the newest hardware does appear. But the top two prizes going to older devices says something about the gap between sensor specs and the person holding the phone, even as Apple continues pushing variable aperture lenses and rising costs as reasons to upgrade.
Winners were selected across a wide range of categories:
- Abstract, animals, architecture, children, cityscape
- Landscape, lifestyle, nature, people, portrait
- Series, still life, and travel
The competition is open to iPhone and iPad users worldwide, and entries can be edited using iOS apps. There is an entry fee to submit, though Apple devices are among the prizes awarded.
Submissions for 2027 Are Already Open
The 20th annual competition has a submission deadline of March 31, 2027. For anyone planning ahead, that’s enough time to shoot on whatever iPhone you currently own, whether it’s a new Pro model or something considerably older, and still have a credible shot at winning.
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