Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro is expected to bring a big camera advantage over the iPhone 15 Pro … [+]
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This year’s iPhone 16 Pro is expected to be the first of Apple’s smaller smartphones to feature a powerful 5x telephoto camera, just like this year’s larger iPhone 15 Pro Max. New reports It has been revealed that future iPhone flagship models will feature major camera upgrades, starting with next year’s iPhone 17 series.
iPhone 16 Pro – Pro Max level zoom camera
Fans of the smaller iPhones are currently missing out on Apple’s most powerful zoom camera, but this Everything can change When Apple announced the 5x Tetra prism telephoto lens According to prominent analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it’s expected to be upgraded to the regular iPhone 16 Pro this September, but the same report also details even more impressive zoom features planned for future iPhone generations, which Kuo puts ahead of schedule until the iPhone 19 series in 2027.
Here, Kuo points out that differences between the Pro and Pro Max cameras may emerge again as new camera designs are introduced, with new tech likely to make its first appearance in the larger Pro Max series.
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro – Significant improvement in zoom camera quality
Starting with the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple’s flagship devices are expected to feature a new 48-megapixel tetra-prism-based camera with a larger sensor, up from 1/3.1 inch in the iPhone 16 Pro series to 1/2.6 inch. It is also expected to introduce a new prism design with a shorter form factor to reduce the thickness of the camera.
The larger sensor size improves the camera’s light-gathering ability by about 40 percent, reducing grain and improving low-light performance, while the upgrade from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels allows for significantly better detail and digital zoom capabilities. The 48-megapixel sensor also enables Apple to achieve 8K video with 5x optical zoom, a feature already available on Samsung’s rival, the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
It’s still unclear whether the new 48-megapixel tetraprism camera will be featured on both iPhone 17 Pro models or just the larger iPhone 17 Pro Max, but Kuo predicts that the camera will be included in both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in 2026.
iPhone 19 Pro – New Prism, increased zoom range
Kuo expects the iPhone 19 Pro series from 2021 to have a further leap in camera performance with an increased optical zoom. The report speculates that an increased optical zoom range may require a new, more complex prism shape that internally reflects light multiple times. More complex optics can negatively impact quality through distortion and reduced light transmittance, so Apple will need to carefully mitigate these issues.
The improved long-range zoom performance will effectively challenge Samsung, which reduced the maximum optical telephoto magnification from 10x to 5x on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. According to Dxomark, the long-range zoom of this year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max Already excellent You can take advantage of Samsung’s flagship model even in low light conditions.
This situation is currently reversed in bright scenes, but if Apple takes the opposite position and surpasses 5x, the iPhone may find itself taking the lead in one of the performance areas where Samsung was once strongest.
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