Apple is planning to load future iPhone cameras with high-powered superzoom capabilities – basically a “spy camera” – according to über-analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities. The “periscope” telephoto cameras will allegedly appear in the 2022 iPhone lineup.
Harry Pettit for The U.S. Sun:
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a strong track record in leaking secret Apple plans, predicted iPhone camera changes in a letter to investors this week.
He claimed Apple was in cahoots with two major camera-lens makers to bolster the snappers on iPhones starting this year.
One, South Korean firm Semco, is expected to produce “periscope” lenses for Apple’s iPhone lineup in 2022.
He said Apple is working with both Semco and Chinese lens firm Sunny Optical on the iPhone 12, rumoured for release in September.
It’s thought that Apple’s periscope lens will give iPhones up to 5x optical zoom and beyond, though this could be boosted to up to 50x zoom with a combination of optical and digital lenses.
Currently, Apple’s latest mobiles are only capable of up to 2x optical zoom, though this can be extended to 10x with the addition of digital zoom.
MacDailyNews Take: Last year, a political science professor described the 50x zoom lens on the Huawei P30 Pro phone as a “privacy and surveillance nightmare” following the appearance of a video in which a P30 Pro was shown allegedly filming pedestrians from the top of a tall building:
An iPhone with a high-powered 50X superzoom would certainly be capable of being termed a “spy camera.” (Of course, Apple wouldn’t market it that way.)
Why is our culture so obsessed with putting a negative spin on everything? I can see it now: “Bob cured cancer today, but the medicine tastes nasty. Bob is being sued by the Society of Taste Judges.”
I’m holding out for Apple’s version of X-Ray Vision. That would be really useful and quite entertaining for users. Seeing through skin isn’t necessary it but would add extra value.
Don’t need it with Apple fans. Their skin is so thin a nightlight suffices.