The iPhone 15 Pro camera is pretty impressive but according to a well-known industry analyst, the iPhone 16 Pro’s Ultra Wide camera could blow it out of the water.
Ming-Chi Kuo recently posted a report going over production concerns and efforts with the iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 17, and Apple Vision Pro, and, to contextualize those production reports, he talked about a brand new camera upgrade coming to the iPhone 16 Pro. In it, he said “The ultra-wide camera of the iPhone 16 Pro series will be upgraded to 48MP/0.7um/(1/2.6") (vs. iPhone 15 Pro’s 12MP/1.0um/(1/3.6")). “ This matches a rumor from last month.
How this works in actual photos and videos is yet to be seen, but the better raw power could give the iPhone more to work with when it comes to how it treats that footage. This should result in much clearer and more detailed footage if the rumored Ultra Wide improvements launch later this year.
A healthy upgrade — iMore’s take
The camera is rumored to be built on the same architecture as the iPhone 15 Pro, which means production costs should not rise exponentially, but the bump in quality should be noticeable. It’s important to note that the Ultra Wide camera’s MP count has not changed at all since the launch of the iPhone 11 Pro way back in September 2019.
This increase is a needed step for the iPhone as it was being outpaced by its competitors in raw figures. In actuality, this doesn’t always place iPhone Ultra Wide cameras significantly behind, as those specs don’t tell the full story of what they can capture. Apple can combine its top-class software and efficient design to get the most out of this significant bump. Ming-Chi Kuo’s report suggests everything is on track to deliver that camera upgrade this year. Hopefully, it’s worth the wait.
