The iPhone 16 Pro could feature a major upgrade to its telephoto camera.
According to a new report on Economic Daily News (via MacRumors), Apple is planning on another major upgrade to the telephoto set-up of its Pro flagship phone range. Apple is tipped to switch to more advanced glass moulded lenses, resulting in both a thinner and lighter design and improved optical zoom magnification.
Apparently, the extreme difficulty of the manufacturing process for such components means that the supply chain has already started preparing the way around a year out from release.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard mention of such moulded glass lenses in Apple’s next-gen phones. In July, tipster Digital Chat Station claimed that Apple would be introducing a “super” telephoto lens in next year’s top model(s).
While nothing specific is mentioned, we’re likely looking at a telephoto camera that goes way beyond the 5x optical zoom of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Another interesting tidbit to emerge from this latest report is that these moulded glass lenses will push costs up by as much as 10 to 20%. Expect to pay more for the privilege of zooming in further come the end of 2024.
We rated the iPhone 15 Pro Max highly to the tune of a 4.5-star review, and found its 5x zoom boost to be welcome. However, we noted that this was still some way short of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and its 10x zoom capabilities, so Apple clearly still has some way to go.
