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iPhone Rumored to Get 200MP Camera Like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra
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This. I have been waiting for a 1" sensor to come to an iPhone. It's past time for that to happen!
More megapixels ≠ better quality. To prove my point, one of the most popular cameras in Hollywood is the ARRI Alexa Mini. It has 7.5 megapixels.
Thank you for providing perhaps the best comment on this thread. People thinking this means 200MP photos is just wild.
The actual file size in the Samsung S25 Ultra (which also has a 200MP sensor), if shooting at the highest resolution is 55-65MP. A sensor of that size in a phone is likely going to use a lot of those pixels for increased low-light sensitivity and dynamic range, stability (especially for video) and the ability to zoom on-sensor. It doesn't mean that every pixel on the sensor will translate to an equal pixel in the finished file, the way DSLRs and mirrorless cameras do. There's so much more computational photography in phones that can use the added headroom. Lenses on the back of a phone aren't even likely to be able to resolve a 200MP sensor the way a large camera does.
And, as some have mentioned already, it's a marketing statement more than a photographic one.
Which camera takes better photos? The 200MP one in some flagship Samsung phones or the current one in the iPhone 16 Pro?
Optics, sensor size, image processing are more important than megapixel count above a certain count, for most regular consumer needs.
And like a post above, grouping of pixels and other tricks mean images don’t have to be huge in size even with smaller megapixel cameras.
The key take away, megapixel count is only one aspect of camera capability and the quality of the images recorded.
And like a post above, grouping of pixels and other tricks mean images don’t have to be huge in size even with smaller megapixel cameras.
The key take away, megapixel count is only one aspect of camera capability and the quality of the images recorded.
Not true. In sunlight conditions or great lighting, the much easier to crop and get a usable image from it. Think macro photography with an ultrawide that also can zoom. I wonder if this would be the right way to do cameras in phones rather than an array of cameras. Of course cropping never gives the same image but from a smartphone the more light plus more pixels equals much better photos. People can talk about 12mp being perfect size all they want because Apple sold them on this concept. Oh they’re bigger pixels. Doesn’t matter when you have lots of light. For low light photography, the larger pixels help somewhat but even that is being beaten by great processing.
I thought the iPhone Air would have one camera something like this. Picture ultrawide at 200mp you could go wide at 50 and telephoto at 12.5 approximately. All from one camera.
In 2026 200MP 1/1.1 inch sensor will be on basically all best Chinese phones which will be great. Doubt apple would use this one or anytime soon
Don’t give many ideas. They already do that with the M series chip, the lesser cheaper models they just disable some of the on-board CPU/GPUs, but they’re still physically there.
A nice way for Apple to upsell you to the highest storage tiers needed to store the size of 200mp photos.
"I've set your alarm for 8:35 PM"
Agreed. I don't want to go through some special multi-step process and I don't want to futz with (or pay for) a third party app. I just want Apple to add a "less overcooked" option to its default Camera app. They could call it a "Natural Photo Style" or something. I just want to take a picture of my kid in golden hour light and have it not HDR it so aggressively it that he looks like he's got radiation poisoning.
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This is an obvious scheme by a desperate Tim Cook to increase Apple's services revenue. If each photo is 200MP, then anyone using iCloud storage for photos will run out of space more quickly, and have to upgrade to the higher tier. Apple apple already charges a ridiculous amount for iCloud storage, and it's also one of the highest gross margin revenue contributors that Apple has. Megapixels don't matter - wake me up when you increase the sensor size.
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I don’t see how this will help make iPhone photos better. I recently bought my first “real camera” (Fuji XM-5). It’s only a 26MP camera, but the photos it takes are insanely better than my iPhone 14 Pro. Photos look much clearer, especially when you put them up on a computer monitor or TV. Night photos in particular just come out so much clearer and truer to real life. MP count doesn’t make photos good, it’s the sensor and lens that make a difference.
They should prioritize a larger sensor before going after higher pixel count.
They should prioritize a larger sensor before going after higher pixel count.
The problem with doing a 200 megapixel sensor on a phone is that the pixel pitch is incredibly small for each pixel. It would be better to have a 12 megapixel sensor so that each pixel received *more* light.
But the hardware and software for the dedicated camera button needs ROI!