@sdw Sorry but I think there’s something in default camera macro that Halide is missing. Have you done a pixel peeping comparison on iPhone 15 Pro?
Default has smaller file sizes and more detail, “image pipeline” stuff like the 1.5x I guess. Halide just has more sharpening on the crop you start from.
Of course default is useless because it’s impossible to focus, so Halide still wins, but Halide needs to find a way to deliver that same detail rather than upscaling and sharpening a crop.