It clearly tells you here in the iPhone 7 specs on Apple's website http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Main camera has a smaller sensor? 7 vs 7+
- Thread starter kruso2
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They say it's the same camera, which means the same lens and sensor. If it was just the same lens they would have used the phrase "a 12mp camera with the same f1.8 lens as the iPhone 7" or similar
If it isn't the same sensor, then they would be guilty of breaching the trading standards regulations in the UK as you can't use the phrase "the same" for things that aren't identical.
I doubt Apple are stupid enough to fall foul of our very strict trading regulations but if they are they will potentially find themselves in hot water
I suspect that most on here toiling over the sensor size between the 7 and the 7+ are either camera phone enthusiasts or photography enthusiasts. Maybe there are one or two actual photographers ( earn a living making photographs ) that have been chiming in regarding discussions but for the most part, for better or worse, the enthusiast crowd is who we have and while your experience & opinions are indeed valid, the world of photography has been and is much, much bigger and deeper that that.
So in addition to my iPhone 6, I have and use a 24MP Leica M, 24MP Nikon D750, 36MP Nikon D810 and 50MP Hasselblad CFV50c.
My career in using digital started in 1994 in using a Nikon / AP NC2000 .9MP professional camera. I have used digital cameras that had small sensors like the early D100 all the way to the Fuji X100, S, T. While sensor and film size is a foremost consideration in opening up detail, broadening intertonal contrast and color rendition and in mitigating noise or grain....it is not the only way to dial in these criteria.
For example, I see a big difference in actual usable dynamic range and how it plays out in the final image compared to numbers shown in spec sheets, often with surprises in what looked best.
So if there is one thing I have learned in making probably close to a million images in 22 years of using the digital medium, it's that you simply can not always use rudimentary specs and technological norms as the sole barometer for what is coming next and how it adds up in the final image.
If you would have told most digital pundits ten years ago that a .33" sensor would produce images that easily hold a double page spread in a high quality magazine, they would have laughed until out of air. But here we are and that is what they do.
None of this means that the sensor sizes are not different between the two phones, but due to other design factors involved that we are unaware of, it might not even matter if they are.
I'd say take a wait and see approach, that is certainly what I am doing.
So in addition to my iPhone 6, I have and use a 24MP Leica M, 24MP Nikon D750, 36MP Nikon D810 and 50MP Hasselblad CFV50c.
My career in using digital started in 1994 in using a Nikon / AP NC2000 .9MP professional camera. I have used digital cameras that had small sensors like the early D100 all the way to the Fuji X100, S, T. While sensor and film size is a foremost consideration in opening up detail, broadening intertonal contrast and color rendition and in mitigating noise or grain....it is not the only way to dial in these criteria.
For example, I see a big difference in actual usable dynamic range and how it plays out in the final image compared to numbers shown in spec sheets, often with surprises in what looked best.
So if there is one thing I have learned in making probably close to a million images in 22 years of using the digital medium, it's that you simply can not always use rudimentary specs and technological norms as the sole barometer for what is coming next and how it adds up in the final image.
If you would have told most digital pundits ten years ago that a .33" sensor would produce images that easily hold a double page spread in a high quality magazine, they would have laughed until out of air. But here we are and that is what they do.
None of this means that the sensor sizes are not different between the two phones, but due to other design factors involved that we are unaware of, it might not even matter if they are.
I'd say take a wait and see approach, that is certainly what I am doing.
Last edited:
Exactly, it is the same it states here in the specs http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/
They are exactly the same, the only difference is that the 7 Plus has a telephoto lens which can help it go to 10X zoom using software while the 7 only goes to 5X. The 7 Plus will have the better quality when zooming in or using the new Bokeh effect in portrait.
Yeah, another thing I noticed during the keynote was that after talking about the 7, he specifically said something about it being the single greatest camera they've ever put in a phone, but when he went on to talk about the 7 Plus, the language was more about the Plus having a second lens for portraits. So, I'm not sure why he wouldn't have reserved the "best camera" line for the 7 Plus.
Hmm, Phil is right though. Website says: iPhone 7 Plus doesn’t have just one entirely new camera system — it has two. The same 12MP wide-angle camera that’s on iPhone 7 works with a 12MP telephoto camera that can get even closer.
Interestingly they don't refer to pixel size.
[doublepost=1473578789][/doublepost]
But on the website they refer to the 7 having a 12 mp camera, while the 7 Plus has a 12 mp wide angel.
So that's the same because they said so in the Keynote but they didn't say ti was the same on the website, interesting.
They can say the same because they've been doing it since the 6. The 6 and 6 Plus have the same camera. The 6s and 6s Plus have the same camera. Except they didn't because the Plus models have OIS. They can play it loose with the definitions and what has what and both this, and one that. They have the legality covered.
It will piss off a lot of people but even if this had to deal with trading regulations (it doesn't) they've got it covered with their language.
See the things is if the 7 and 7 Plus had the same sensor then they'd be toting that all over the website. They'd be talking about pixel size like they did last year with the 6s and 6s Plus. But they put two different sensors in the cameras.
It's odd that they've left out the specifics because I recall last year's camera portion of the keynote having a lot to do with pixel size and sensor size since they were upping the megapixels and introducing the concept of deep trench isolation technology (to compensate for the downside of smaller pixels).
Does anyone remember if they listed any of that on the spec pages?
You know that for sure, because...?
We'll have to wait for the first teardown, until then everything's possible.
Got the same feeling when he presented the 7 as best camera ever and then just two cameras in the plus. I don't care if it's 1/2.6 or 1/3 in them, just that it's the same sized sensor.
I don't get it how people got so sold on the 7 plus with dual cams.
This is so someting I could see them doing and I'll be PISSED
If true on trading standards then the 3GB could be an issue because it is assumed that the A10 soc is the same on both. And yes this is IF the plus has 3GB
In terms of the camera, I am sold on it because Apple usually does their homework on this kind of thing and having a second camera instead of using a lens adapter to change the field of view is a pretty substantial feature.
[doublepost=1473607696][/doublepost]
Read my lengthy post above, especially the first part.
Unless you design & build smart phone specific cradle to grave imaging systems, you simply have no reason to be upset unless comparison tests reveal a deficiency between the two versions of the phone's wide angle cameras.
As others have now pointed out. Phil specifically mentioned they are the same camera. I watched that part of the keynote 3 times to double check.
When you say the "same camera", one can infer that it is 100% identical. Same camera, same sensor, same everything. Where is the actual proof that the sensors are different? I'm assuming we need to wait until Friday to know for sure.
Now let's calm down 
identical sensors!
identical sensors!
Now let's calm down
Thank you!
In the end it doesn't matter what Phil said. What matters is the actual specs of the sensor size from a reliable source.