The tetraprism camera available on the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max enables up to 5x optical zoom for the telephoto lens. The smaller 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro didn’t get the upgrade, retaining its 3x zoom.
However, both the upcoming 2024 iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will get the same 5x telephoto lens. Ming-Chi Kuo says this camera will have the same specs as the one that debuted in the 15 Pro Max. The analyst suggests that more significant upgrades are coming in the coming years…
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are expected to launch in September 2024, just a few months away. Thanks to the addition of the 5x camera in both Pro sizes, Kuo estimates that component shipments will increase by about 160%.
What’s more exciting is what customers can expect in the coming years. Kuo says that the high-end iPhone 17 model, due out in late 2025, will get a 48-megapixel tetraprism camera. The sensor size will also increase to 1/2.6”, which will likely improve image quality and low-light sensitivity. However, Kuo isn’t yet sure whether the upgraded tetraprism camera will only come to the 17 Pro Max, or if it will be included on both sizes.
Looking ahead to 2027, the ‘iPhone 19’ is on track to get another significant upgrade to the telephoto camera. Kuo believes this upgrade will include an increase in optical range, potentially with more prisms to increase the length of the light path, thus enabling more than 5x optical zoom. Naturally, it would no longer be described as a tetraprism design, as it would have more than five internal reflectors.
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