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

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.