Key Takeaways
- The iPhone 16 Pro is rumored to have a big camera upgrade, potentially featuring the same tetraprism lens as the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
- Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the iPhone 16 Pro is going to feature the new camera upgrade.
- There is speculation that the iPhone 16 Pro may have a larger display than previous Pro models, which could provide enough space to accommodate the tetraprism lens for improved optical zoom capabilities.
The iPhone 15 Pro goes on sale in a few short days but attention is already starting to turn to what comes next. That'll be the iPhone 16 Pro and a new leak has already given us cause for optimism in terms of a big camera upgrade.
That camera upgrade is something that the iPhone 15 Pro Max already has - the new tetraprism lens that enables Apple's improved 5x optical zoom feature. During the iPhone 15 Pro Max announcement on 12 September, Apple said that the model features the new tetraprism lens because it is bigger than the smaller iPhone 15 Pro and therefore has more space inside. If this leak is correct, Apple is already working on making it fit in the smaller iPhone 16 Pro.
Focusing on camera upgrades
This is all according to the supply chain watcher Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst who has a solid track record when it comes to predicting features based on what he's hearing from suppliers. Writing in a larger Medium post about Apple's plans, Kuo said that "both iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro are expected to feature tetraprism telephoto cameras." No further details were given, however.
This could marry up to a previous leak that claimed the iPhone 16 Pro would have a new, larger display than previous Pro models. The iPhone 15 Pro will ship with a 6.1-inch display, for example, while display analyst Ross Young previously claimed that the iPhone 16 Pro will feature a new panel of around 6.2 or 6.3 inches. If that's the case, Apple may have enough internal space to fit that tetraprism lens.
The lens itself is similar to the periscope lenses used by Android phone makers like Samsung. The theory is simple - mirrors are used to bounce light around to artificially elongate the distance between the camera's lens and sensor, enabling greater levels of optical zoom.
If that tetraprism lens really is coming to the iPhone 16 Pro we can expect it to also offer the same 5x optical zoom levels as the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
As for this year's iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, they'll all go on sale this coming Friday, 22 September.