Rumor: Apple testing dual-lens camera modules from Largan, others for future iPhones

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.