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Both iPhone 16 Pro Models Again Rumored to Feature 5x Optical Zoom

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Apple plans to expand the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism camera with up to 5x optical zoom to both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max this year, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce. This is a rumor we have heard from other sources before, including Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and our own reporting.

iPhone 16 Cameras Feature 1
TrendForce briefly mentioned this information today in a press release focused on the overall smartphone camera lens market:

Following the successful launch of the iPhone 15 Pro Max with its exclusive Tetraprism telephoto zoom lens, the industry is expected to see an increase in the adoption of periscopic lens modules. Apple plans to bring this advanced hardware upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro, making it accessible to more users in the Pro series.

In the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the tetraprism camera system has a "folded" design that allows it to fit inside the smartphone, enabling up to 5x optical zoom and up to 25x digital zoom. By comparison, the smaller iPhone 15 Pro remains limited to up to 3x optical zoom, in line with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

It has been rumored that the iPhone 16 Pro will feature a larger 6.3-inch display, compared to the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro. This change would increase the overall size of the device, which could provide additional internal space for a tetraprism camera.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 16 series in September.

Tag: TrendForce
Related Forum: iPhone

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Top Rated Comments

J
jimothyGator
32 months ago
A zoom lens is one with variable focal length. It’s not one with a fixed, long focal length. It’s not three separate lenses with different focal lengths. No iPhone to date has had a zoom lens, and it doesn’t sound like the iPhone 16 will, either.

(We can quibble about “digital zoom,” but at least it’s accurate in the sense that it’s variable).
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GtrDude Avatar
GtrDude
32 months ago
In other news: Apple is working their way up from being 10 years behind Samsung to only being 8 years behind.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
darngooddesign
32 months ago
Bleh, I would ratehr they add a fourth 5X camera than have that big gap from 2X to 5X.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brooke795 Avatar
Brooke795
32 months ago

This is such a great feature, I'm going to use improved zoom whenever I take pictures of my cat from now on. I gotta see that "clueless kitty" expression in super high-definition 5x. 🐱
As a cat person myself I LOVE this comment!!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
soundweave
32 months ago

PEBKAC. Anyone referencing "the awful HDR" simply needs to learn how to hold the iPhone Pro still and pay proper attention to lighting.
Compare a Native RAW or even a ProRAW photo compared to a HEIF produced by the stock camera app. The HEIF forces garish sharpening, which doesn't look good on anything larger than a phone screen. All smoothness is gone. Meanwhile the RAW files can look like real camera photos, really beautiful. ('https://twitter.com/sdw/status/1760405449625788736') They look like they could be in a magazine.

It's not because of the extra file size. You can compress these ProRAWs back down into HEIF (on a mac, on iPhone it adds the post-processing back in) and they are usually a smaller size compared to the stock HEIF (presumably due to the lack of sharpening, less "detail"). I have 48MP converted-HEIFS that are smaller than 24MP stock-HEIFs due to this.

The capability is there. I wish they would let us control this sharpening/processing more with the photographic styles or something.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
klasma
32 months ago
Just quick reminder that this isn’t an actual zoom lens. The “optical zoom” is just interpolating between the fixed-focal lenses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_smartphone_telephoto_lenses
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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