Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo “today said that Apple plans to upgrade the front camera in the 2019 iPhones from 7-megapixels to 12-megapixels,” Benjamin Mayo reports for 9to5Mac. “He also said that the much rumored triple-camera system will come to the 6.5-inch and 5.8-inch OLED iPhones, adding a brand new super-wide 12-megapixel lens.”
“Both the super-wide and front camera lenses will be specially coated in black, to make them blend in better with the surrounding bezel for an ‘inconspicuous’ look,” Mayo reports. “Kuo’s report again indicates that the 6.1-inch iPhone XR successor will adopt a dual-camera system this year.”
“The front-camera improvements go beyond an increase in megapixels from 7 to 12,” Mayo reports. “The camera will also change from the existing 4-element lens to a 5-element lens component. The new front camera will be included on all three new 2019 iPhones…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last month:
Certainly, if the lens arrangement isn’t laid out symmetrically, it’d be for a reason, as Apple seems to like symmetry when possible. Likely, in real life, it’ll look more like a black square camera bump than a seemingly haphazard arrangement of lenses, flash, and mic. — MacDailyNews, March 29, 2019
SEE ALSO:
Leaked schematic reveals next-gen iPhone with triple-lens camera in triangular arrangement – March 29, 2019
I’m not sure why MDN keeps describing the speculated arrangement as “haphazard.” If you want optical zoom from super wide to telephoto, you can’t do it with a single camera unless you can accept a device the size of a brick. If you use three cameras, they have to be as close together as possible to minimize parallax issues. That requires an equilateral triangle arrangement, as demonstrated by Euclid, among others. The flash and microphone can’t be in the middle of the triangle, because that would force the lenses farther apart. If they must be close beside the lenses, the speculated placement seems the most compact and attractive. What’s haphazard about that?
First of all, it’s NOT a “… 12-megapixel lens.” Rather, it’s a 12-megapixel CMOS sensor.
Secondly, TxUser knows exactly what he’s talking about – dead on man!
Lastly, Apple’s camera arrangement isn’t worried about the iPhone rocking on a table. Who cares? The phone just sits there, leave it alone (unless you’re Ben Lovejoy and OCD about it). Everyone (that is sensible) has a case on their iPhones and they eliminate wobble anyway – if that’s your issue.
What Apple is doing is creating the best photography experience with their camera systems – and last I checked, I think that’s a pretty good goal.