Could you see Apple making a dedicated camera?

[JPack]

But the fact that customers have spoken sort of plays into what I'm saying. Maybe a certain number of the Pro owners felt they had to choose the Pro, because right now it's all or nothing when it comes to the extra lenses, so they chose all (Pro instead of the Air). Perhaps some of them chose the Pro reluctantly due to the size/weight, and if they were given a third option--to bring a full camera only when it suits them--perhaps they would have chosen it. As far as I know, there's no way to know how big or small of a group that is, so this is all conjecture.

But it seems like there should at least be a small group. It's kind of like portable batteries. Imagine for some reason the market for portable batteries was dead, and your phone battery is all there is (and wall/car charging on the go wasn't a reliable option either). How many more people would get the largest phone with the biggest battery just in case, even if most of the time they don't need that much battery? The option of a portable battery allows some people to get the smaller phone that better suits them most of the time, because they know they can bring a battery those infrequent times they need it. A compact dedicated camera could do the same. Many people are fine carrying portable batteries when needed--a camera would be about the same size, so they should be just as willing to carry it. But not if it's DSLR-sized. Just like almost no one would be willing to carry a battery the size of a DSLR, only extreme users would carry DSLR cameras, even occasionally. DSLRs are best and will always be, but again that gap has gotten small enough that for the increase in size (and probably cost? haven't looked at prices), DSLRs have too diminishing of returns for most people--most of whom are ok with ML photos.

The compact camera market is dead. But the premise of my post isn't that Apple should get into that dead market, it's that the market may start to resurrect in the near future if the smartphone road forks. One road would continue the path of phones getting bigger and heavier and more capable--the other road would split off into two devices that specialize but are integrated.

If consumers were willing to carry a separate camera, then the compact camera market wouldn't be dead! Most people don't want to carry a separate device, just for photos.

How can you compare a battery bank with camera? I can buy a Xiaomi 20,000 mAh bank for under $20. That's throwaway money so I can buy a few spares. My family and friends can all use them. An Apple camera, probably at least $1,000 or $1,500 is a very intentional, single use purchase.

Expand your view beyond just Apple iPhone and it will become obvious. Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Samsung have tried it all, tri-fold, bi-fold, large, small, flips, etc. Consumers keep returning for the largest, most capable devices. There's no fork in the road where consumers prefer separate devices, at least not in the foreseeable future.

 

[Kal Madda]

Since the point and shoot camera market is dead, and now that Apple has the iPhone Air which has only one camera lens, depending on how long it sticks around I think it's possible there will be a slowly growing demand for a dedicated pocketable camera (not DSLR) that is tightly integrated with the iPhone and that would be brought along on certain occasions where a better camera is desired. Sort of like how the MagSafe battery is meant to be brought along on certain occasions where a bigger battery is desired. It's kind of modularity. But besides Air users, Standard and SE iPhone users may be interested as well (and maybe Fold users?). And if Apple is able to make the dedicated camera exceptionally good, a few Pro users might want it as well.

I imagine it being a compact, pocketable camera with an iPhone Pro chip, but with a smaller screen and battery (since it's only used as a camera), and probably a larger sensor and higher zoom, and as tightly integrated with iPhone/iCloud as possible. All photos should automatically sync to the iPhone (or iCloud if it's set up). It could also act as a remote camera for selfie recording, Facetime, and other apps.

Again, I'm not talking about a big DSLR although that could be interesting too, but just a compact camera that could be slipped into a jacket pocket/small purse/fanny pack on occasions where one thinks they may need more than the single standard iPhone lens. Again, this probably wouldn't be carried with an iPhone all the time, otherwise why not get a Pro (although even if one did bring around the camera all the time and the total weight/bulk would be more than an iPhone Pro, there is still the benefit of specialization--ie. having a slim/light phone to use whenever not using the camera, and having a probably better camera than the Pro).

I could possibly see this happening, though perhaps not completely in the way you’d expect. Apple is rumored to be developing a smart home camera. We don’t know what quality of camera it’s going to be, if I really had to guess, I would say probably 12MP sensor, but who knows, maybe not considering they’ve moved away from 12MP on most of the iPhone lineup, so could just recycle the 48MP single sensor being used for the iPhone 16e. But such a smart home camera I could definitely see including better zoom than most iPhones, and would almost certainly be able to integrate directly with iCloud. So that could possibly the form in which we see a dedicated camera from Apple, at least at first.

Personally, I don’t see the market for a separate single-purpose device aka pocket camera being very high. Especially if you combine the price of your phone plus this device, it would probably either be just as expensive or even more expensive than an iPhone Pro model. It’s like purpose built iPods and MP3 players in general are practically dead, which is why Apple discontinued the iPod.

I think the only way the sell it is to Pros who are willing to carry extra hardware for much better image capabilities than what the iPhone offers. It would have to be a niche and Pro-oriented product if it would succeed in my opinion. 👍🏻

 

[Jamie0003]

Apple sell a camera, it’s called the iPhone

 

[erikkfi]

I wish they would go for making a prosumer-grade mirrorless.

In terms of technology I think it's a great idea. Their processing is top-shelf. Purely from a results perspective I think they could make a phenomenal dedicated mirrorless-style camera.

In terms of design I think it'd be a disaster. Apple is allergic to buttons, knobs, dials, and controls.