Kuo: iPhone 14 gaining a 48-megapixel camera, 2023 iPhone going periscope

Iphone 13 Pro And Iphone 13 Pro Max
Iphone 13 Pro And Iphone 13 Pro Max (Image credit: Rene Ritchie/ iMore)

What you need to know

  • Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the iPhone 14 will gain a new 48-megapixel camera.
  • A new periscope camera system is in the cards for 2023's iPhone, Kuo says.
  • High-resolution cameras and periscope systems are nothing new in the world of Android devices.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple will switch to a new 48-megapixel camera next year, while the following year's device will see Apple jump to a new periscope camera design for the first time.

In a research note seen by iMore, Kuo says that the 2022 iPhone — likely to be called iPhone 14 — will use a new 48-megapixel camera. We've heard similar rumors before — not least from Kuo himself. The move to such a camera system could allow Apple to take advantage of pixel binning — a process that would allow for more light to be made available during low-light shots while still enabling high resolution stills to be taken in well-lit scenes.

Further, Kuo expects the 2023 iPhone to make the jump to a periscope camera design. Such a design would allow Apple to increase the level of zoom its iPhones can offer, borrowing from a strategy that the likes of Samsung already make use of.

Apple was granted a patent for periscope cameras earlier this year, while rumors of the removal of future iPhones' camera bump could also require a periscope lens.

Periscope cameras work by allowing sensors to be mounted differently from traditional ones, creating a larger distance between lens and sensor which results in improved zoom capabilities.

Apple's iPhone 13 is the best iPhone in terms of photography right now and that is expected to change around September next year with the arrival of iPhone 14. Just by how much the new device improves on the old one, we'll have to wait and see.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.