2022 iPhones use preview camera for 10x optical zoom

In 2016,  Apple  was one of the first companies to use double optical zoom, launching the  iPhone 7 Plus with this feature. However, Apple is currently slightly behind its competitors in this area. In early 2020, Samsung launched the Galaxy S20 Ultra for the first time with a pre-camera equipped with a 10x hybrid optical zoom capability. The latest information about the release of the first iPhone surveillance cameras in 2022 indicates that.

According to a report by Digitimes, Apple is working on using periscope lenses in future iPhones that can provide up to ten times magnification without increasing image quality without increasing the thickness of the phone or the size of the protrusion of the camera module.

Last summer, Mingchi Ko , a well-known Apple product analyst, first predicted that the technology would be used in the 2022 iPhone. He believes that Semco and Sunny Optical have been added as the best suppliers of Korean and Chinese lenses to the iPhone supply chain this year, respectively, and that the first iPhones equipped with the Semco periscope camera will arrive in 2022.

Digitimes confirms previous reports, noting that the next iPhone may benefit from  Samsung ‘s periscope lens next year  . The media continues to say that Apple is trying to improve the camera quality of its next phones, and their focus will be on enhancing the iPhone’s magnification capabilities. It seems that as usual, instead of making these types of lenses, Apple is looking to partner with Korean companies to supply the periscope lenses of its future handsets. Although not yet definitive, Apple may use Samsung’s periscope lenses.

In fact, surveillance cameras work like a submarine surveillance system. In this type of surveillance system, two 45-degree lenses are installed at the beginning and end of the tube, which allows you to see the output of the image of the other end by looking at one side of the tube. In smartphones, the periscope lens uses the same principle; But with just one lens, it bends the light 90 degrees and delivers it to the sensor.

Periscope cameras allow the phone to provide greater optical magnification, and the periscope lens is designed in such a way that it does not cause the thickness of the camera module; However, due to its large size, enough space must be created for the physical lens of periscope cameras. However, as mentioned, Samsung uses a periscope lens for 10x optical hybrid optical zoom on the Galaxy S20 Ultra; Therefore, the use of these lenses in advanced smartphones is quite possible and practical.

Given Apple’s policies in introducing iPhones, it seems unlikely that we will see these fundamental changes in the interior design of next year’s iPhones, and Mingchi Koo’s talk is probably closer to reality, and by 2022 Periscope lenses will not be used on the iPhone.