The iPhone 15 Pro Max could become the Ultra, and the iPhone 15 Ultra could come with a snazzy new camera, according to a rumor that's been long grinding in the mill. It was also previously thought that this upgraded camera could increase demand for lens upgrades for the iPhone 16, with more models featuring the new periscope camera.
Now, consistently reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the new camera module will only come to the highest model of the iPhone 16, just as with the iPhone 15 Ultra. In other words - that demand may not be as big as first thought.
New iPhone camera only coming to top model
As usual, the more expensive the iPhone, the better the kit inside. Ming-Chi Kuo reports that the iPhone 15 Ultra will get the new periscope camera.
(4/5)As previously predicted, the highest-end model of the 2H23 new iPhone 15 model (15 Pro Max or 15 Ultra) will adopt the periscope camera. The market expected that adding periscope cameras to more iPhone models would drive demand for lens upgrades in 2023-2024.January 31, 2023
As Kuo points out, it was previously thought that the new camera in the iPhone 15 Ultra would move across to more models in the iPhone 16 range, given that there'd be more demand for the enhanced camera. He now reports that the camera will only make its way to a similarly high specced iPhone 16 model, rather than the previously expected two.
(3/5)Only one/the highest-end model of the new 2H24 iPhone 16 series may have a periscope camera, not the two models of market expectation. It's detrimental to Largan and Genius since the demand for lens upgrades will fall below expectations.January 31, 2023
The big takeaway for us as best iPhone customers is that we'll still have to pay top buck for the best iPhone camera. For the industry, particularly the lens manufacturing industry, it's a worrying trend - especially if a company has already invested heavily in upgraded Periscope camera lenses. Companies like Largan and Genius, which make iPhone camera lenses, are going to suffer the most, Kuo points out.
A periscope camera, for those wondering, is a mobile phone camera that uses a prism mirror system to enhance the zoom function of the camera. In more technical terms, it extends the focal length by aligning the image sensor and the zoom lens array sideways to one another. If you want to know more about the periscope camera that we could receive in the new iPhone, then check out the Smart Phone Photographers' excellent explainer. It taught us all we know.
