iPhone to get periscopic optical zoom camera in 2022 or 2023

Apple is working on an iPhone with a periscopic camera. With such a camera you can zoom in on photos and videos without the quality bouncing back.

Apple is working on iPhone with periscopic camera

Patently Apple has discovered that Apple has filed US patents for an iPhone with a periscopic camera. Such a camera system excels in bringing images closer with (almost) no loss of quality. Periscopic cameras are therefore also called ‘zoom cameras’.

In the patents, Apple explains how the system should work. The company tries to ‘fold’ light captured by the camera sensor so that the optical zoom capabilities are stretched.

Apple uses a prism for this. This bends the image so that the camera fits into the flat housing. Just like with a periscope in a submarine, you can ‘see around a corner’.

Periscopic technology should ensure that future iPhones have more optical zoom. The current top devices, the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, can optically zoom in 2 and 2.5 times.

In comparison: the Huawei P40 Pro Plus has a periscopic lens and can optically zoom in as much as 10 times. Also the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra can zoom in 10 times without loss of quality thanks to a periscope lens.

Rumors are piling up

Patently Apple writes that the iPhone maker will have developed the technology in 2022 or 2023. This coincides with previously expressed expectations of experts.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously predicted that the iPhone will have a periscopic lens in 2022. He later returned to this by putting the new technology back for a year.

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