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In many respects, smartphones are all very similar, and it is the additional features that can help each device stand out from the competition. The camera is one of those devices, and it seems that the iPhone 13 may have a major trick up its sleeve.
According to a new rumor, Apple is preparing to include a “folded” periscope camera in the next iPhone. That means that from now on we could see an explosion in the quality of enlarged photos.
The rumor comes from sources speaking on the Korean site. ETNews. Apparently Apple is now looking for “folded camera” vendors to increase the power of its existing optical zoom lenses.
Folded cameras effectively use a periscope-like structure to refract light through a prism onto a horizontally stacked lens and image sensor. Normal zoom lenses tend to vertically stack a lens and an image sensor. Using a modified camera could help reduce rear camera bulge on models like the iPhone 12 Pro.
It’s not a new idea, by no means, as large companies like Huawei and Samsung have used a periscope design to improve their optical zoom capabilities, but without increasing the size of their phones.
Optical zoom for Apple phones is currently only available on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, which offer a respective 2x and 2.5x optical zoom. By increasing the capabilities of optical zoom, Apple can greatly improve the quality of photos by increasing the magnification without having to enlarge a still digital image, such as digital zoom.
Zoom is also something Apple has started to lag behind. The Samsung Galaxy S20 and Galaxy 20 Ultra offer 3x and 4x optical zoom, respectively, and current rumors claim that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra will include an additional telephoto lens with 10x optical zoom. In other words, Apple needs to address this now if it wants to continue to position itself as the leader in smartphone photography.
The natural increase in optical zoom is not the only way to improve zoomed photos. The Google Pixel 3’s Super Res Zoom has already shown that post-capture image processing can work wonders in enlarged shots, especially when combined with a telephoto lens. Apple would do the same in doing the same, especially since that would mean that it can improve the quality of enlarged images without exceeding the lens specifications.
Of course, the optical zoom comes with its own problems, especially if you get too close. Anyone with a Galaxy S20 or Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will know that the closer you get, the harder it is to keep everything stable.
The only question now is which iPhone 13 models will get this new lens? The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max are guaranteed as they already have telephoto lenses and are primarily marketed for their photographic capabilities. But the iPhone 13 or the iPhone 13 mini? ETNews claims Apple will push to add a third lens to the base model, but we’ll have to wait and see.
