According to a recent report, Apple may extend the outstanding 48-megapixel main camera from iPhone 14 Pro models to non-Pro iPhone 15 variants.
According to 9to5Mac, while iPhone 14 and 14 Plus shared similar hardware with iPhone 13, Apple seems poised to introduce significant improvements in the upcoming iPhone 15 lineup expected later this year. Analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech Research, as cited in the 9to5Mac report, anticipates substantial camera upgrades across all 2023 iPhone models, with the most noteworthy enhancements reserved for the midrange iPhone 15 and 15 Plus.
Pu suggests that both these smartphones will likely feature a three-stacked 48-megapixel sensor behind a “wide” lens, and presently, Apple exclusively employs this 48-megapixel camera in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max series. This strongly indicates that the same sensor and optical system used in the iPhone 14 Pro may find its way into the midrange devices, although 9to5Mac notes that these smartphones are not expected to include a telephoto lens or LiDAR.
Apple’s remarkable 48-megapixel sensor marks a significant advancement in imaging capabilities, representing one of the most substantial leaps in the company’s flagship smartphone photography in quite a while. The sensor produces exceptionally sharp images, and its larger physical size enables some degree of background defocus without depending heavily on computational photography.
Due to the sensor’s generous size, even Apple’s 2x digital zoom feature, essentially a digital crop, not only appears usable but actually delivers impressive results. Typically, details that would be lost in such a crop remain preserved.
PetaPixel expressed in its iPhone 14 Pro review that Apple appears to grasp the concept that packing numerous megapixels into a smartphone doesn’t automatically result in a superior camera. The review states that the announcement of a 200-megapixel smartphone doesn’t necessarily excite them, as they remain skeptical about whether the utilization of such high pixel counts will truly enhance the camera’s performance.
In this context, Apple demonstrates its ability to generate a final 12-megapixel photo from just 48 megapixels, a result that could easily be mistaken for a shot taken with a high-end standalone camera, had one not been aware of the origin.
The prospect of this outstanding sensor being incorporated into a more budget-friendly smartphone is indeed promising, as it would expand access to superior photography capabilities for a broader audience.
