I'm having some trouble really groking the thought process behind all of this -- but maybe my expectations are simply too high. (Maybe chalk it up to being an Apple fan for far too long.) Consider this train of thoughts, if you will: Apple is allegedly going to increase the size of the entire handset for the 16 pro series models...
specifically so they can put in even better camera hardware? See, I'm not saying that's an
unlikely scenario... but here's my issue with that approach:
Existing phone cameras (iPhone and otherwise) all basically work on an ultra-simple principle, which is nothing at all like traditional standalone cameras; install multiple fixed-focal-length camera lenses and swap between them to "zoom" the image. Which is to say, phone cameras have no
truly seamless optical zoom capability; it's all basically just software magic. This is partly why higher resolution lenses don't necessarily always translate into correspondingly high-resolution images; the camera's higher megapixel rating is primarily being used by the software to enable this "fake" zoom capability.
Now, we're already discussing some pretty firmed up rumors of a periscope lens for the 15, which increases the zoom level of only a single lens. There's nothing stopping Apple from putting the periscope on
multiple lenses in the 16, thus potentially explaining the link between bigger phones and "better" cameras... but even if they do that: by necessity, this also increases the
difference between the zoom levels of the different lenses, requiring the device to increasingly lean on the crutch of that software magic. So unless they're going to add yet another lens to the already
phobia-inducing array, this issue can only become more pronounced as things continue to progress, eventually reaching a point of diminishing returns where that software doesn't seem to be quite so "magical" anymore.
Thus: why aren't we hearing any rumors about a proper
mechanical zoom? The LG module at that link could take the place of two of the existing lenses... but that's only part way to the true ideal: it's theoretically possible to create such a zoom apparatus which can obviate
both of the extra lenses. This would all but eliminate the necessity for a lot of that software magic... and honestly, returning to a single lens on the back of flagship phones would also just look
a lot more elegant than the current state of affairs. Perfecting something like this would be, to my mind, a very "Apple" approach to the issue.
(I know... I know: the obvious potential fault of this idea is that moving parts tend to have a higher potential failure rate... so I may be harping on an unreasonably idealistic notion that just will never come to fruition for technical reasons. At least, not until a true optical zoom lens can be implemented
with no moving parts.)