None of these articles ever mention the technical underpinnings of Portrait Mode. How is it better than ‘regular mode’? More pixels? Better Gamma?
Notice in the photo of the cover of the magazine how everything in the background of the model is completely out of focus? In a normal photograph, everything beyond the focal plane will be in focus. However in Portrait mode, the MODEL is what the photographer wants the viewer to pay attention to, not the background, so the point is to de-emphasize the background. A normal lens system will be able to resolve everything beyond a specific distance. . . But not things closer than what you are focusing on.