For several years now the competition in high-end smartphones seems to be in the cameras. These devices have reached an impressive level of quality and versatility and it seems that the iPhone 12 will continue to bet heavily on an advanced and spectacular photographic experience.
As reported by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 12 will feature an 8-element “high-end” lens that will be manufactured by Largan, a partner that Apple has previously relied on and which already manufactures camera lenses. of the iPhone 11. For comparison, the wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle sensors of the current iPhone 11 and 11 Pro have 6-element lenses.
The elements, more important than megapixels
The elements are a series of lenses with different curves, convergent and divergent, that are inside the camera and allow to improve the quality of photography in many different ways. At the beginning the cameras had only one element, however, there were an innumerable aberration and sharpness problems. By putting several elements, each one specifically though, these errors can be corrected by redirecting the light beam more precisely.
Introducing many elements in a sensor as small as that of a smartphone is not easy, and until now Apple had managed to include up to 6 elements in the sensors of its cameras. According to this new information, the iPhone 12 will introduce 2 new elements that will make the photos better.
Largan is reportedly having delays of between four and six weeks, meaning they will peak production for these iPhone lenses between September and November. In previous years, Largan had everything ready between August and October. This could be another reason why the iPhone 12 was delayed, some reports assure that it might not even go until 2021.
On the other hand, Kuo does not report which model or sensor will receive this new lens with 8 elements, although if Apple continues with its current strategy, the four iPhone 12 models should share two sensors: the wide-angle and the ultra-wide-angle. In addition, it is normal that these two sensors are precisely those that incorporate more elements into their lenses.
Surely Apple will surprise us again with one of the best mobile cameras of the year. It is true that it is increasingly difficult to impress, with the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro came the ultra-wide-angle sensor and the night mode, together with an unsurpassed video recording. The camera will once again be a mainstay on iPhone 12s, and Apple will most likely rank first at the end of the year.
If there are no delays, later this year Apple will present 4 iPhone 12 models, more than it has ever launched before. We will have an iPhone 12 “mini” with a 5.4-inch screen, an iPhone 12 Max with a 6.1-panel, and two models of iPhone 12 Pro with screens of 6.1 and 6.7 inches. All of them will have OLED technology and the A14 Bionic processor. Of course, they will come with iOS 14 installed and, believe it or not, at a cheaper price.