Image credit : Matt Talks Tech
Apple plans to redesign the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s triple-lens rear camera system to make room for the new periscope camera technology, which will be available only on the larger phone.
For the first time this year, the telephoto camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a periscope lens system, enabling 5x or 6x optical zoom. In contrast, the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 3x optical zoom feature, which is anticipated to be maintained on the iPhone 15 Pro.
Due to the advanced hardware, Apple is probably only including the periscope technology in the iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, despite the Pro Max model’s additional room, Apple was still forced to rearrange the camera module’s structure.
The Telephoto lens is located closest to the top corner of the smartphone when the current iPhone 14 Pro Max is held in landscape position with the Side button at the top (as shown in the above image), while the Ultra Wide lens is located down between the flash and LiDAR sensor.
In contrast, the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s telephoto lens will be located between the flash and the LiDAR, while the ultra-wide angle will be placed in the array’s corner. As a result, Apple will have more internal room to accommodate the intricate folding optics in the periscope system.
A primary lens is typically used in a periscope lens system to take the picture, and then the light is reflected 90 degrees by a prism or angled mirror towards a secondary lens, which then feeds it to the image sensor. In order to increase focal length, the image sensor and secondary lens are mounted horizontally inside the smartphone, taking up valuable surface area.
The actual telephoto lens will probably need to be square-shaped, a change from the circular telephoto lens used for the iPhone 14 Pro Max because of the way light is reflected at an angle in this system. Although the camera cutout will remain circular, the interior lens will be square.
In this way, when compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the new model will appear from the exterior as though the lens array hasn’t changed at all, but the hardware layout will be very different.
On a related note – the camera arrangement has changed, compared to the 14 Pro / Pro Max.
The Ultra Wide and Telephoto cameras have swapped positions – so the camera between the flash and LiDAR sensor is the one with periscope lens on the 15 Pro Max (regular telephoto on 15 Pro) https://t.co/J0QYdPsNH7
— Unknownz21 🌈 (@URedditor) May 16, 2023
The interesting detail was shared by researcher Unknownz21, who yesterday confirmed that both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will gain the periscope zoom camera technology in 2019. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had already predicted this development.
Also read : A New Periscope Zoom Lens for the Apple iPhone 15 Ultra, Made by LG?
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models are anticipated to have displays that are slightly larger than those of previous generations, and the increased internal space provided by the new sizes is probably one of the factors that will allow Apple to introduce the periscope lens to both premium devices for the first time in 2024.
