Will only the iPhone 15 Pro Max get a periscope camera?

In two months, Apple will present the iPhone 14 series. In the new generation, there will probably be the biggest differences between the standard and pro models so far. And Apple could also limit new features to certain models in the future. A well-known Apple analyst expects that only the iPhone 15 Pro Max will receive the long-awaited periscope camera.

As Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said on the site media reported that the 15th generation of the iPhone should finally come with a periscope camera – but only for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. All other models will probably have to do without the camera with a strong optical zoom. After all, in the 16th iPhone generation, both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro should have a periscope camera.

Periscope camera specifications remain the same

As Kuo writes, the periscope camera of the iPhone 15 Pro Max and that of the iPhone 16 Pro models should not differ in the most important specifications. The cameras would have a 1/3-inch sensor with a 12-megapixel resolution, feature an f/2.8 aperture, support sensor-shift image stabilization and offer five- to six-fold optical zoom. The components for the periscope cameras should also come from the same suppliers for the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro models.

Apple has not yet had any experience with periscope cameras

Compared to manufacturers of Android devices, Apple has not yet had any experience with periscope cameras. Samsung uses this camera technology in the Galaxy S22 Ultra, for example. The periscope camera offers an optical zoom of up to ten times. However, integrating a periscope camera into a smartphone is not that easy.

With periscope cameras, light does not fall directly through the lens onto a sensor. Instead, it is deflected 90 degrees by a prism, passed through several lenses and only then falls on the sensor. This enables the high optical zoom. However, this design also requires significantly more space.

Maybe that’s why Apple decided to introduce the periscope camera first in the largest premium model, the iPhone 15 Pro Max. In the larger housing, the camera can probably be accommodated more easily than in the normal Pro model. If the first field test is successful, Apple’s engineers can look for ways to squeeze the camera into the smaller Pro model of the iPhone 16.