Apple will equip the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max — the company’s purported Pro models expected to release later this year — with an upgraded camera setup, according to TF Securities International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that Apple will upgrade the ultra-wide angle camera on this year’s Pro models, while the smaller iPhone 16 Pro will be equipped with the tetraprism telephoto camera setup found on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The company is also tipped to equip the iPhone 17 series with an upgraded selfie camera.
In a Medium post, Kuo states that Apple will upgrade the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max from a 12-megapixel sensor to a 48-megapixel sensor — the sensor is expected to output 12-megapixel images that are pixel binned, according to Kuo, but the hardware upgrade will lead to improved image quality compared to the iPhone 15 Pro models.
The analyst says that Taiwan-based Genius Electronic Optical will be a major supplier of the ultra-wide angle lens on the iPhone 16 Pro models, and the firm is also on track to produce the tetraprism telephoto lens for the smaller iPhone 16 Pro model, bringing its optical zoom performance on par with the larger Pro model.
Last year, Apple equipped the iPhone 15 Pro with an upgraded telephoto camera that offers up to 5x optical zoom. Previous leaks suggest the iPhone 16 Pro will also be equipped with similar camera hardware that enables the same functionality. The iPhone 16 Pro is also expected to sport a larger 6.27-inch display, which should drive more users — an estimated increase of 5 to 10 percent — to upgrade when the phone arrives, according to Kuo.
Kuo also predicts that Apple will upgrade the iPhone 17 series with a new selfie camera from a 12-megapixel sensor with a 5P lens to a 24-megapixel camera with a 6P lens, improving the image quality “significantly”. As the primary supplier for the front cameras on the iPhone, Genius’ revenue is expected to rise significantly, Kuo says, as the price of a 6P lens is 100 percent to120 percent higher than 5P lenses.