Roger Fingas
Taiwan's Largan Technology and camera lens makers in China and Japan have sent dual-lens camera samples to Apple for testing, aiming for inclusion in Apple's next Plus-sized iPhone, a report claimed on Tuesday.
Largan already supplies over 60 percent of the cameras for iPhones (excluding their sensors), DigiTimes noted. As a result, the company could court other companies for dual-lens parts to avoid risks like production bottlenecks.
Supply chain sources didn't say if Apple was already leaning in a particular direction for parts orders.
Though DigiTimes has a mixed track record with Apple product news, the report echoes a recent claim by KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that Apple's "iPhone 7 Plus" will offer a dual-lens option, the second lens providing telephoto functions. Although smartphones cameras are now approaching the quality of point-and-shoot compacts, very few smartphones offer optical zoom, which can magnify a subject without the pixellation inherent to digital zoom.
One of the main problems has been design, since telephoto lenses can often jut out from the body of a phone in a "bump" that's unbalancing and/or unsightly. A dual-lens configuration could partly circumvent the issue.
Sponsored Content
William Gallagher
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
18 Comments
Digitimes? Gimme a break.
DigiTimes rumor ignored. Next!
The best part about this is how it will doubly affect the psyche of people who give a crap about the 1 protruding camera lens.
Yes yes yes yes please! Optical zoom and a larger sensor are the two features I am missing on my 6S
I certainly hope this is available on non plus phones, as low light performance on my 6 is significantly worse than that of the Galaxy S6 (just comparing screens at a recent music event) and I don't think it's any better on the 6s.