So one of my adult kids asked me today "what's depth of field dad?" Turns out said kid has availed himself (at a cost well into four figures) of a new telephone. One of them iPhone 13 thingies. So I give him a brief technical explanation of what DOF is about and the parameters that influence it, which I can see is going straight over his head, and not because of how I'm explaining it. He then asks what bokeh is and so I explain that too.
"No need for all that Dad, I've got a DOF switch". A what now? "Yes, you just set the amount of bokeh you want and the TELEPHONE does it for you. Great innit?!"
So I patiently explain that either its just another fake effect button, or the TELEPHONE is compensating by changing aperture, ISO or some other setting and the TELEPHONE's automation (are you detecting that I hate camera phones, especially Apple products?) is adjusting to suit.
However, after reading a tech review (on DPReview as it happens) seems I was right with my immediate assumption. The effect is indeed totally fake and a result of yet another, actually fairly clever, algorithm. Seems Apple designed the processing to replicate performance of a (unspecified) Zeiss lens and the review compared the effect with a Nikon 58mm wide open at f1.4, and did so fairly favourably overall. The effect I believe is intended for use with the TELEPHONE's portrait lens, which works at f15, and there were some defects, such as blurring of elements in the same focal plane as the subject (specifically hair and a scarf on the photo they analysed), but as the article said, this is Effort Numero Uno. So it means a clueless Instagrammer can invoke fake bokeh with a lens working at f15 to preserve shutter speed etc..
Point here is....its another indication of where photography is going and another nail in the coffin for the camera industry I believe. I mean imagine if Apple partnered to produce a mirrorless camera with this kind of effect capability allied with some half decent glass? They'd wipe the floor with the competition frankly. And of course the other disappointment was how clueless some folk are about the basics of photography. Doesn't stop them producing some great images, and as I've said before, it would be interesting to know what percentage of images are viewed only on a smartphone or tablet, thus missing the glory of the original image - like watching an IMAX movie on a Zen Vision M.....
I think we are exiting a golden age as regards proper cameras - enjoy it while you can people.