When Apple released iOS 14.2 last month, it didn’t mention that FaceTime calls would now be in 1080p for older iPhones. As MacMagazine notes, Apple has updated the product comparison pages of the iPhones 8, X, XR, XS, SE, and 11 (including the Max and Pro versions) to show that they now support FaceTime at 1080p over Wi-Fi, as opposed to before when they only supported 720p.
Calls made over cellular will still be at the lower resolution, but if you’re FaceTiming over Wi-Fi you may notice increased clarity after the update. That is, unless both callers had the iPhone 12, which has had 1080p FaceTime calls from the start (including over cellular if you’re on 5G).
My sister has an iPhone 8 with the update, so I called her up on FaceTime. I had her take a screenshot when we were calling over Wi-Fi, then had her switch to cellular and take another screenshot for comparison. For good measure, I also took screenshots on my iPhone 12 Mini to compare what it looked like on my end. You can judge for yourself if you can notice any differences.
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Left: screenshot of a 720p call over cellular on the iPhone 8 | Right: screenshot of the 1080p call over Wi-Fi
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