These stunning iPhone Photography Award 2024 winners show you don't need an iPhone 16 upgrade after all

News
By
published

Most of the winning shots were taken on older iPhones

A top-down photo of a child's head, a man wearing a yellow turban, and an abstract shot of pink tunnels
These three shots were all winners in the 'Children' (left), Portrait (middle) and 'Abstract' (right) categories at the iPhone Photography Awards 2024 (Image credit: IPPA Awards / Soledad Barranca Miron / Enhua Ni / Glenn Homann)
Jump to:

The iPhone 16 Pro rumors might be promising some improved optical zoom and a better wide-angle camera, but the new winners of the iPhone Photography Awards 2024 show you don't need a new iPhone to take great snaps.

The competition, now in its 17th year, runs independently of Apple but has become a staple in the smartphone-snapping calendar. It claims to be the world's longest-running iPhone photography competition – and as you'd expect, some fine photos are spread across its 15 categories.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is understandably the most well-represented camera in the awards – it was used for 10 out of the 46 award-winning shots. However, the awards are by no means dominated by new Apple models. The second most popular phones were the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone X, which were used in four winning shots each.

A couple of photos were even shot on iPhones that won't even support iOS 18 when it lands next month. First place in the 'Animals' category (shot by Colin Hoskins) was taken on an iPhone 7 Plus, which launched back in 2016. Meanwhile, the top spot in the 'People' category (an eerie shot of some renovators at an LA motel by Brooke Wilen) was taken on an iPhone 6S. 'The best camera is the one you have with you' may be a cliché, but it's also true.

What's clear from the winners below is that composition and a little editing both trump hardware these days. Very few shots appear to be 'straight out of camera', with many displaying the tell-tale signs of color tweaks from the best photo editing apps like Snapseed and Lightroom, or a tasteful black-and-white conversion.

While the competition's rules stated that "photos should not be altered in Photoshop or any desktop image processing program", that does leave the room open for mobile editors – and there's nothing wrong with that in our book.

Looking for some World Photography Day inspiration? Here's a gallery of all of this year's award winners, and the iPhone that was used for each shot...

Overall winner

A boy at an aquarium looking at a shark

Grand Prize Winner, by Erin Brooks (shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max) (Image credit: IPPA Awards / Erin Brooks)

The judges chose the shot above, Boy Meets Shark by Erin Brooks, as their Grand Prize Winner. Erin is no stranger to the awards, having previously come second in the Portrait category in 2022 and winning the Series category in 2021. The black-and-white shot was taken on an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Taken in Tampa, Florida, the shot captures the moment a young boy comes close to a huge shark – behind the safety of glass at least – with the judges stating it symbolizes "the innocence of youth juxtaposed with the mysteries of the deep sea." The processing also fittingly gives it a picture-book quality.

It certainly wasn't the only standout entry, though, as you can see in the galleries of the other category winners below...

Photographer of the year

Image 1 of 3
A group of swimmers in red caps in a green river
First place in 'Photographer of the Year', by Glen Wilbert (shot on an iPhone 11 Pro Max)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Glen Wilbert)

Abstract

Image 1 of 3
Orange feathers
First place in 'Abstract' category, by Jose Manuel Garcia Gonzalez (shot on iPhone 14 Pro Max) (Image credit: IPPA / Jose Manuel Garcia Gonzalez)

Animals

Image 1 of 3
A man riding a horse surrounded by dogs
First place in 'Animals', by Colin Hoskins (shot on an iPhone 7 Plus)(Image credit: IPPA awards / Colin Hoskins)

Architecture

Image 1 of 3
An abstract shot of some colorful archways
First place in Architecture, by Leping Cheng (shot on iPhone 12 Pro Max)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Leping Cheng)

Children

Image 1 of 3
A child swinging in a blue hammock in front of a purple wall
First place in 'Children', by Daniel de Cerqueira (shot on an iPhone 11)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Daniel de Cerqueira)

Cityscape

Image 1 of 3
A colorful playground in front of a river and industrial towers
First place in 'Cityscape', by Yanzhou Chen (shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Yanzhou Chen)

Landscape

Image 1 of 3
A night sky over Lake Tekapo
First place in 'Landscape', by Paddy Chao (shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Paddy Chao)

Lifestyle

Image 1 of 3
A crowd of people wearing yellow swimming hats
First place in 'Lifestyle', by Glen Wilbert (shot on an iPhone 11 Pro Max)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Glen Wilbert)

Nature

Image 1 of 3
A waterfall surrounded by trees in black and white
First place in 'Nature', by Shinya Itahana (shot on an iPhone 15 Pro)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Shinya Itahana)

Other

Image 1 of 3
A side-on photo of a woman leaning towards a horse's head
First place in 'Other', by Jun Hu (shot on an iPhone 7)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Jun Hu)

People

Image 1 of 3
Two men in white overalls working on a white building next to white ladders
First place in 'People', by Brooke Wilen (shot on an iPhone 6S)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Brooke Wilen)

Portrait

Image 1 of 3
A woman standing with her hands on her hips with eyes obscured by an umbrella
First place in 'People', by Artem-Koleganov (shot on an iPhone X)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Artem-Koleganov)

Series

Image 1 of 3
Children jumping in the air on the side of a swimming pool
First place in 'Series', by Xingping Zhou (shot on an iPhone 13)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Xingping Zhou)

Still Life

Image 1 of 3
Four slices of watermelon in a bowl in front of a blue wall
First place in 'Still life', by Dai Fushun (shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Dai Fushun)

Travel

Image 1 of 3
Camels riding through sand dunes in the Moroccan desert
First place in 'Travel', by Khalid Mahmood (shot on an iPhone 13 Pro)(Image credit: IPPA Awards / Khalid Mahmood)

You might also like...

Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson
Senior news editor

Mark is TechRadar's Senior news editor. Having worked in tech journalism for a ludicrous 17 years, Mark is now attempting to break the world record for the number of camera bags hoarded by one person. He was previously Cameras Editor at both TechRadar and Trusted Reviews, Acting editor on Stuff.tv, as well as Features editor and Reviews editor on Stuff magazine. As a freelancer, he's contributed to titles including The Sunday Times, FourFourTwo and Arena. And in a former life, he also won The Daily Telegraph's Young Sportswriter of the Year. But that was before he discovered the strange joys of getting up at 4am for a photo shoot in London's Square Mile.