The information came through the folks at Korea IT News, Apple is apparently looking for vendors to bring a periscopic camera system to its smartphones.
With so many Android smartphones with cameras of this type, Apple has lagged behind, even with its recently launched lineup, the iPhone 12, which comes with a telephoto camera, but with a maximum optical zoom of 2.5x.
In an attempt to improve the optical zoom of its devices, the path, at least so far, is one, the periscopic camera, which refracts light like a periscope with the lenses and sensors placed horizontally instead of vertically.
Apple is looking to introduce triple cameras on its iPhones at the very least, according to industry officials who are familiar with the situation surrounding the development of cameras for iPhones.
Apple chases after the loss
Apple is currently looking for this periscopic camera technology in addition to patents to strengthen the optical zoom feature of iPhones and has already had conversations about this with a specific company. The main benefit of this technology is that it can enable higher levels of optical zoom without having to thicken the iPhone or iPad.
Optical zoom is determined by the distance between a lens and an image sensor. Longer focal length can perform optical zoom with higher magnification. This technology could be used in more than just zoom lenses, as if the technology were good enough, it could get rid of the camera bulge that currently affects almost every smartphone on the market.
The periscopic camera structure emerged as an alternative form. Instead of stacking a sensor and image sensor vertically, the camera refracts light through the prism and has a lens and image sensor placed horizontally. This structure has begun to attract industry attention, as it solves the "camera bulge" problem and helps to increase optical zoom magnification.
Also according to Korea IT News, Apple may have to partner with companies like Samsung that already use the technology for their zoom cameras and own many of the patents surrounding the technology.
How much does it cost Apple to make the iPhone 12 Pro? Report explainsAs said, Samsung Electronics has important patents related to periscopic camera, some people raise the possibility of a partnership between Apple and Samsung Electronics or Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
"The ball-type actuator is the key to the folded camera and the patents related to the actuator are in the possession of Corephotonics, which was recently acquired by Samsung Electronics." said a camera module industry official. "It was heard that Apple is not able to easily design the periscopic camera structure due to patent issues."
It is not clear if Apple needs to turn to Samsung to supply the cameras, but it will be funny for Trump to leave the White House in January, the trade embargo against Huawei is dropped and we see the periscopic cameras, present in the P30, Mate 30, P40 and Mate lines. 40 appearing on iPhones in 2021 or 2022.
