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The iPhone 16 Pro Max could be the first to feature a super telephoto periscope camera for dramatically increased optical zoom, according to a new report coming out of Asia.

iPhone-15-Pro-Periscope-Mock-Feature.jpg

The information comes from the Weibo account "Digital Chat Station," which has provided accurate information about Apple's plans in the past. The label of "super" or "ultra" telephoto is usually afforded to cameras with a focal length over 300mm, drastically magnifying and pulling in distant subjects. The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro models' telephoto camera has a focal length of equivalent to 77mm, so a focal length in excess of 300mm on the iPhone 16 Pro Max would be a very large increase.

Super telephoto cameras are often used for sports and wild animal photography, but the extremely soft backgrounds they create also make them useful for portrait photography, providing there is enough distance between the subject and the photographer.

The change is seemingly facilitated by Apple's upgrade to a periscope telephoto camera system, starting with the iPhone 15 Pro Max later this year. With next year's iPhone 16 Pro models, Apple is reportedly planning to bring the telephoto camera to both of the "Pro" models, apparently enabled by increasing the smaller model's size. As such, giving the iPhone 16 Pro Max a super telephoto periscope would enable Apple to maintain differentiation between the two "Pro" devices next year.

The Weibo user also reiterated their previous claim that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature a 12% larger camera sensor that is 1/1.14-inches in size. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max currently feature a 1/1.28-inch sensor and no sensor size increase is expected for this year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. A larger sensor could improve the main iPhone camera's dynamic range and background blur. It could also substantially enhance low-light photography capabilities since a bigger surface area can capture more light with the same shutter speed and aperture.

In their latest post on the matter, the Weibo user did not explicitly state which devices the rumor relates to in the iPhone 16 lineup, it is believed to relate specifically to the iPhone 16 Pro Max due to their previous remarks. The same user shared similar camera information earlier this year, claiming that they had obtained industry insider information.

Article Link: iPhone 16 Pro Max Rumored to Feature Super Telephoto Camera
 
With next year's ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro models, Apple is reportedly planning to bring the telephoto camera to both of the "Pro" models, apparently enabled by increasing the smaller model's size.
That’s why I keep saying that this years iPhone 15 Pro might be the last chance to get a rather compact Pro iPhone, instead of a huge 6,3” iPhone 16 Pro next year.

All my argumentations on the forum are based on consistent rumors and leaks. Of course, those can end up being wrong, but they usually end up being true if the sources are reliable and many of them point in the same direction.
 
Phones take good photos because they have a camera bump. We can't physically squeeze image optics into a smaller space without compromising the image quality.
make phones thicker and put more battery in then.

i'm not asking for a flush camera like the iPhone 5. i don't mind a camera bump but it's got way out of hand with how ****ing big these camera bumps are getting.
 
make phones thicker and put more battery in then.

i'm not asking for a flush camera like the iPhone 5. i don't mind a camera bump but it's got way out of hand with how ****ing big these camera bumps are getting.
But then I'd bet most people don't want really thick phones, I certainly wouldn't.

While I can't speak for everyone else, but my personal experience of my 14 Pro Max is I can easily get two days of life out of it without issue.
 
Rumor has it Apple will put a medium format sensor in the iPhone 35876.5 with a gazillion mega-pixel sensor. It will only be 1mm thick with an 8mm bump. Exciting times.
 
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