A future iPhone will almost certainly get a 200-megapixel telephoto camera, but you will have to wait for it. An indecisive leaker now insists it will come by 2028.

Apple is always keen to improve the imaging capabilities of the iPhone, with it being a massive selling point. While it has settled on 48-megapixel sensors so far and has resisted the move to triple-digit resolutions, it will inevitably join its rivals in doing so.

A Tuesday post by serial Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station says that there will be a wait, but not necessarily a massive one. According to the leaker's supply chain sources, Apple is currently evaluating a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens.

The initial post is extremely low on detail, and on its own would be an entirely guessable thing for Apple to be doing. Of course company of its size and market positioning would be looking at future upgrades to its most successful product.

In the comments, however, the leaker adds an important detail. When one commenter proposes that it would take until 2027 to arrive, Digital Chat Station responds that 2028 would be more likely.

Weibo leakers generally don't have a great track record when it comes to Apple leaks, partly due to the need to constantly churn rumors out. In the case of Digital Chat Station, they are a regular leaker, but only sporadically accurate.

This is far from the first time that a 200MP camera sensor has been discussed. It's not even the first time Digital Chat Station talked about it, since they posted a rumor about 200MP camera testing in May 2025.

In January, a Morgan Stanley analyst broached the topic, saying that the iPhone 21 in 2028 should get the 200MP camera treatment. However, a day later, Digital Chat Station declared Apple was only in the "material testing change" and that Apple hadn't even started prototyping it at that time.

Since then, Digital Chat Station insisted in March that the testing of the 200MP camera sensor was for inclusion in the 2027 iPhone 19 Pro, earlier than previously forecast. Evidently, that aim has slipped into the next generation once again.

Considering the general secrecy of Apple's supply chain operations, no one truly knows what the company is doing on the outside. That doesn't stop anyone from making an educated guess on where it is probably going.