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Increased Size of iPhone 16 Pro Models Explained by Major Camera Upgrades, Rumor Suggests

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The increased size of next year's iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max allows for upgrades including a periscope telephoto camera and a 12% larger main camera sensor, according to a new report.

iphone_12_pro_sensor_shift.jpg

The rumor was first shared on Chinese social media site Weibo by a user who says that they have obtained industry insider information. Corroborating several other reports that next year's iPhone 16 Pro models will feature larger displays, the individual claims that the increased size of the devices will provide more internal space for components including a periscope telephoto camera system. Earlier today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the larger size of the iPhone 16 Pro models could help facilitate improved camera hardware or bigger internal batteries.

While the iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to introduce the iPhone's first periscope telephoto camera, the feature is expected to be exclusive to Apple's largest iPhone at first. With next year's iPhone 16 Pro models, Apple is reportedly planning to bring the telephoto camera to both of the "Pro" models. The increased size of the iPhone 16 Pro, is, therefore, at least partially explained by the need for more internal space to implement the periscope camera on the smaller Pro model.

For the iPhone 16 Pro Max or iPhone 16 "Ultra," the additional internal space will apparently allow for a larger main camera sensor that is 1/1.14-inches in size. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max currently feature a 1/1.28-inch sensor. No sensor size increase is expected for this year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. This claim has since been supported by the Twitter leaker known as "ShrimpApplePro."

A larger sensor could improve the main iPhone camera's dynamic range and background blur. It could also substantially enhance low-light photography capabilities since a bigger surface area can capture more light with the same shutter speed and aperture.

Article Link: Increased Size of iPhone 16 Pro Models Explained by Major Camera Upgrades, Rumor Suggests
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2023/05/28/iphone-16-pro-size-increase-camera-upgrades/
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Falhófnir

Falhófnir

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Going to 1/1.14, hopefully they increase the resolution to 64MP and output 16MP images. It's certainly big enough to take full advantage of the extra resolution at that point, and unlike when they were still using the 1/3" sensor on the iPhone X, the 12MP resolution is actually a bit of a bottleneck to photo quality now.
 
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dz5b609

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KaiFiMacFan said:
Cool, but I hope the image processing software doesn't ruin the pictures taken by the increasingly-impressive hardware. The hardware doesn't mean much if the software simply overrides anything the hardware captures.
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I think you overestimate how good those sensors are by a lot. Even if it would be double the current size it would be a pretty ****** sensor compared to ones in proper camera's with space, you still need a shitton of image processing to make it into something.
 
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KaiFiMacFan

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dz5b609 said:
I think you overestimate how good those sensors are by a lot. Even if it would be double the current size it would be a pretty ****** sensor compared to ones in proper camera's with space, you still need a shitton of image processing to make it into something.
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True. I think it's worth it for greater optical zoom, as that's something iPhones can't do right now that other Android smartphones can, but I don't think there's much point in making the camera module bigger if it's just for greater resolution or sensor size, as that would only bring marginal noticeable benefits, if any.
 
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nwcs

nwcs

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KaiFiMacFan said:
True. I think it's worth it for greater optical zoom, as that's something iPhones can't do right now that other Android smartphones can, but I don't think there's much point in making the camera module bigger if it's just for greater resolution or sensor size, as that would only bring marginal noticeable benefits, if any.
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Not to mention that people do not print photos anymore. They post on social media sites which reduce the image size and add compression. Thus all this increased resolution is wasted or never used. But the number is what sells the product so they'll keep increasing the numbers while people still feel like they are getting more - it's what marketing does.
 
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laszlo182

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dz5b609 said:
I think you overestimate how good those sensors are by a lot. Even if it would be double the current size it would be a pretty ****** sensor compared to ones in proper camera's with space, you still need a shitton of image processing to make it into something.
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You can clearly see how ruined it gets when you take a picture and quickly open the gallery to view the last photo taken. There is about 1-3 seconds before effects get applied.
 
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antiprotest

antiprotest

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one more

one more

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I really wish Apple could run customer surveys more often, asking people to prioritise what they want in an iPhone most (camera, battery life, screen size, notch, etc.). If they emailed their whole iPhone customer base, it would allow them to plan their new releases much better.

For me, already existing camera tech in a standard (non-Pro) iPhone since iPhone 12 is plenty and I would not like iPhones getting bigger and heavier just for the sake of housing this new camera setup.
 
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dampfnudel

dampfnudel

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xxray said:
Hopefully, the larger physical sizes mean another battery life jump similar to iPhone XS series -> iPhone 11 series.
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This year’s iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max should get a significant battery boost thanks the more efficient A17. In fact, I have a feeling that may be the most significant new change this year, bigger even than the addition of USB-C, at least if you’re getting the periscope-less 15 Pro.
 
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citysnaps

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nwcs said:
Not to mention that people do not print photos anymore. They post on social media sites which reduce the image size and add compression. Thus all this increased resolution is wasted or never used. But the number is what sells the product so they'll keep increasing the numbers while people still feel like they are getting more - it's what marketing does.
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Yet Canon and other manufactures sell a lot of printers (and a ton of ink) every year. Likely for home decorations, apparently.

As a photographer, I always look forward to better and better cameras being used in iPhones. And that's a major reason why I upgrade.
 
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