The Apple iPhone 15 Pro (2023) shoots Apple ProRAW in DNG format and has no mechanical shutter — the image counter stored in each DNG file records total electronic captures. Drop a ProRAW file to read it instantly.
Check Image Counter →The iPhone 15 Pro uses an A17 Pro chip and a triple-camera system with a 48 MP main sensor (f/1.78, second-generation sensor-shift OIS), a 12 MP ultrawide (f/2.2), and a 12 MP 5× telephoto (f/2.8). All three cameras capture using CMOS electronic readout — there is no mechanical focal-plane shutter in any smartphone. The image counter in a ProRAW DNG file records total captures across the device’s lifetime, not just from the main lens.
| Model | Release | Main Sensor | Shutter Type | RAW Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 15 Pro | 2023 | 48 MP CMOS | Electronic only | ProRAW (DNG) |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | 2023 | 48 MP CMOS | Electronic only | ProRAW (DNG) |
| iPhone 14 Pro | 2022 | 48 MP CMOS | Electronic only | ProRAW (DNG) |
| Canon EOS R5 II | 2024 | 45 MP FF CMOS | Mechanical + Electronic | CR3 |
.dng or .DNG extension.exiftool -ImageNumber yourfile.DNG in a terminal to read the counter directly from the EXIF metadata.Because there is no mechanical shutter, the image counter has no direct mechanical wear implication. When evaluating a used iPhone 15 Pro, focus on these factors instead:
| What to Check | How |
|---|---|
| Battery health | Settings → Battery → Battery Health & Charging. Under 80% means significant degradation |
| Display condition | Inspect the Super Retina XDR OLED for burn-in, dead pixels, or delamination at edges |
| Camera lens glass | Check all three lenses for scratches, chips, or internal fogging through a flashlight test |
| Body & titanium frame | Inspect the Grade 5 titanium frame for dents or cracks near the SIM tray |
| Face ID | Verify Face ID works correctly — TrueDepth sensor damage is costly to repair |
| Image counter | High count (>50,000) suggests heavy use — useful context but not a hardware risk |
Apple ProRAW is a DNG-based format that combines RAW sensor data with Apple’s computational photography pipeline. Unlike a standard RAW file, ProRAW embeds the results of Night Mode, Deep Fusion, and Smart HDR into the DNG while retaining RAW editing flexibility.
The image counter is stored in the DNG EXIF metadata under the ImageNumber field within Apple’s MakerNote IFD. This counter is a persistent hardware counter that increments with every capture across all camera modes — Photo, Video (still capture), Portrait, and Panorama. It cannot be reset by a factory reset or iOS reinstall.
Apple ProRAW files are significantly larger than HEIF photos (25–75 MB vs 2–8 MB). The image counter is only accessible in ProRAW DNG files, not in standard HEIF or JPEG exports. When sharing photos via AirDrop or Messages, iOS may automatically convert to JPEG, stripping the RAW data and counter.
No. All iPhones use CMOS electronic readout — there is no mechanical focal-plane shutter. The term “shutter” in the context of iPhones refers to the electronic activation of the image sensor, not a physical moving curtain. The image counter in a ProRAW DNG file records total electronic captures.
Go to Settings → Camera → Formats and enable Apple ProRAW. This adds a RAW toggle button to the Camera app. Tap it before shooting to activate ProRAW for that session. Note that ProRAW is only available on the Pro and Pro Max models — the standard iPhone 15 does not support it.
No. The image counter is stored in persistent hardware memory and cannot be reset by a factory reset, iOS reinstall, or any user action. This makes it a reliable indicator of total device usage, unlike some older Canon DSLRs where the counter could theoretically be manipulated.
A casual user might accumulate 5,000–20,000 captures per year; an active social media user or travel photographer might exceed 50,000 per year. Unlike a DSLR, there is no “shutter life” to worry about — a high image count simply means the phone saw heavy use, not that it is close to failure.
Yes — drop an Apple ProRAW DNG file from the iPhone 15 Pro into shuttercount.app and the tool will display the image counter. Standard HEIF or JPEG files do not contain the counter field.