When Apple unveiled the iPhone 13 in 2021, it made a huge deal over a headline new feature, Cinematic mode. This is the video equivalent of Portrait mode, allowing you to select a focus point and blur the background. Portrait mode has improved dramatically in successive generations, but the same cannot be said of Cinematic mode. The company appears to have completely lost interest in the feature, and although that’s understandable in one way, I would argue it’s a big mistake.

Portrait mode uses computational photography to simulate shallow depth of field, and it’s now so good that it’s hard to tell reality from simulation. Cinematic mode, however, was never good enough for real-world use—it was essentially a beta. Apple should have called it that, but it wanted a headline feature. I expected it to improve like Portrait mode, but it hasn’t. All signs point to Apple having abandoned development on it.

In one way, I understand: few users care, and amateur filmmakers found it lacking. But it’s still a mistake. The iPhone has encouraged people to explore photography and videography. Improving Cinematic mode would help more users produce professional-looking results and encourage creativity, which is a core Apple value. The number of people who would use it if Apple continued to develop and promote it is what matters.