Apple searches for 'folding camera' supplier to improve iPhone zoom

Apple's iPhone camera may improve the zoom without needing to increase the size of the camera bump, with the company allegedly looking for suppliers of "folded cameras" for future models.

The size limitations of smartphones make it hard to design camera systems that offer better features while also maintaining a minimal size. For some features, like an enhanced zoom, that requires more space than is currently offered, but that may not be the case in a future iPhone.

Apple is said by sources of ETNews to be wanting to include a triple camera system in future iPhone models, but one that relies on a "folded camera" for at least one of the trio.

Rather than being a straight line of sight between the sensor and the subject through lenses, a folded camera structure relies on a mirror or prism in the middle of the lens collection. This setup reflects the light 90 degrees, effectively working like part of a periscope and changing the sensor's angle of view.

In effect, this can enable a camera to take advantage of the length and width of the iPhone body, rather than fitting everything into the thickness of the body and the camera bump extension. This can allow for an enhanced optical zoom to be created, which requires adjusting the distances between lenses and the sensor to increase magnification and focus on a subject.

The concept has been employed by Samsung in the Galaxy S20 Ultra, as well as Sunny Optical Technology in China. Some think that Apple's existing relationship with Samsung for iPhone components could help the two companies extend their partnership into cameras.

It is thought that Apple may have to look in Samsung's directly anyway due to it having trouble creating a folding camera design that doesn't fall afoul of patent issues. The Israel-based Corephotonics owns many folded camera patents and was acquired by Samsung Electronics in 2019, further making Samsung more attractive for the component.

However, some industry observers suggest that the Samsung companies may not cooperate with Apple to offer folding camera-based features for its smartphones and deny its main rival the same technology access.

The search for a folding camera may also cause issues with Apple's other existing camera module suppliers, including LG Innotek, Sharp, and O-Film.

Apple has been working on periscope-like lens assemblies for a while, and has multiple patents for folded lens systems, though has yet to put any of its patents into practice.

As for when consumers could expect to see an iPhone with a folded camera lens, that could be within the next few years. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested in July that Apple was talking to Semco and Largan+Alps/Minebea over lens assemblies and mechanisms, with an iPhone bearing the technology potentially hitting the market by 2022.

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8 Comments

entropys 4303 comments · 13 Years

About 3 years ago

Code name: Nemo.

yojimbo007 1165 comments · 12 Years

Disappointing to see Apple allowing themselves to fall behind in such core aspects of camera technology.. and allow themselves to be dependent on rivals.. ? 2022 is too late when Samsung and others already have it.

Why would they be complacent about such key features? grrrr

sflocal 6135 comments · 16 Years

yojimbo007 said:

Disappointing to see Apple allowing themselves to fall behind in such core aspects of camera technology.. and allow themselves to be dependent on rivals.. ? 2022 is too late when Samsung and others already have it.
Why would they be complacent about such key features? grrrr

Fall behind how? iPhone cameras are consistently rated as the best in class. This telescopic zoom is not a "core" technology.

Samsuns hasn't really done much with this, and what it does do with it is more gimmick than anything else. If/When Apple does do it, I know they'll do it right, and better.

sflocal said:

yojimbo007 said:

Disappointing to see Apple allowing themselves to fall behind in such core aspects of camera technology.. and allow themselves to be dependent on rivals.. ? 2022 is too late when Samsung and others already have it.
Why would they be complacent about such key features? grrrr

Fall behind how? iPhone cameras are consistently rated as the best in class. This telescopic zoom is not a "core" technology.
Samsuns hasn't really done much with this, and what it does do with it is more gimmick than anything else. If/When Apple does do it, I know they'll do it right, and better.

I am not debating Apples Camera quality..nor telescopic zoom lens.... rather them falling behind in optical zoon and periscope lens technology... to me its a very important feature... and i am guessing it would be for many others as well, specially for those who like to take action shots where ,normally, its not easy to get close to the subject.. or wild life, etc.
As for core technology .. i have no idea what u mean... its a Technology that Apple lacks right now.....while others have already implemented.

avon b7 8010 comments · 20 Years

sflocal said:

yojimbo007 said:

Disappointing to see Apple allowing themselves to fall behind in such core aspects of camera technology.. and allow themselves to be dependent on rivals.. ? 2022 is too late when Samsung and others already have it.
Why would they be complacent about such key features? grrrr

Fall behind how? iPhone cameras are consistently rated as the best in class. This telescopic zoom is not a "core" technology.
Samsuns hasn't really done much with this, and what it does do with it is more gimmick than anything else. If/When Apple does do it, I know they'll do it right, and better.

In many ways Apple's camera offerings for the last three of four years have been lacking with regards to competitors. And for different reasons.

This is unquestionable and something cannot be best in class if it cannot do what is asked of it. For example the low light photography on the wide angle (which was only remedied this year). Or optical zoom.

When the smartphone world moved to tri-cameras Apple missed the boat. It missed the Night Mode boat as well. As well as the versatility boat and the optical zoom boat, sensor boat and noise boat.

These are core aspects of camera phone photography. As is versatility. 100 times digital zoom may not mean much for photography but it means a lot for versatility. Have you ever been sat just too far away from a sign to read it? Well that digital zoom is the different difference between reading that sign or not. And high optical zoom capabilities are often the difference between a usable shot and an unusable one.

Apple has had some great videography setups but hampered them with small, non expandable storage options on their most popular phones.

Love them or hate them, DX0 Mark hasn't seen an iPhone topping the ranking in years.

A lot of people here started making wild claims about 'computational photography' and seemingly completely forgot that it came to the fore on competing phones first. In fact DX0 Mark deliberately held off on reviewing iPhones with Deep Fusion capability until it was ready. It still wasn't enough to put iPhones up with the best out there. Competitors are using that kind of computational power to remove reflections from photos or even unwanted people that walked in just as the photo was taken. It's still early days in these areas but, once again, they are worth having today, even if the results are always perfect.

We already have the world's first free form lens on a camera and everything is pointing to the release of a liquid lens on a smartphone camera in a few short months.

Apple won't have either for a long while but I'm sure they will have them at some point.

It's true (and I think it's important not to forget) that most of us are more than happy with what we already get out of our phones and that at the high end, output evaluation now largely boils down to simple preference but Apple has been behind. It's only now getting back into the photography game with regards to competing with major rivals.