Apple gives older iPhones the gift of FaceTime HD
In October, Apple launched FaceTime HD on its iPhone 12 line of products, meaning users could make video calls in 1080p resolution (though only when connected to Wi-Fi or a 5G network).
This was a welcome feature, though it was slightly odd that earlier iPhones — especially those that have 12-megapixel front cameras — were not given the feature.
Now, MacMagazine has found out that iPhone 8 and up have received FaceTime HD as well. The feature was introduced in iOS 14.2, though Apple's official release notes do not mention it. However, if you go to specs page of, say iPhone 11, you'll see that it has "FaceTime HD video calling over Wi-Fi" listed as a feature. The feature is also listed for iPhone 8 and up on Apple's iPhone "Compare iPhone models" page.
The full list of iPhones that now support FaceTime HD is as follows: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
FaceTime HD makes a pretty big difference compared to regular FaceTime, so you'll likely notice it in your calls. Of course, if you don't have a 5G iPhone, you'll need to be connected to Wi-Fi for the feature to work.
UPDATE: Dec. 3, 2020, 1:32 p.m. CET A reader alerted us to the release notes for iOS 14.0, which is apparently when Apple added FaceTime HD to iPhone X and later.
Related Video: iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro review
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
