Two Upcoming 2020 iPhones to Feature Time-of-Flight 3D Sensing Rear Cameras

[jclo]

I wish this would have explained what Time of Flight means

Sorry, we were still updating the article. It has the info now. ToF is basically a laser based system that calculates the time that it takes for a laser to bounce off of objects. It should be more accurate than dot projection (aka True Depth) and it has a better range. Basically it'll make mapping indoor areas and objects better so you're going to get much better AR capabilities. Probably also some nice depth-based features for photography too.

 

[Tyler9627]

I wish this would have explained what Time of Flight means

Agreed. I had to Google it. Looks like it'll help in low-light, and maybe introduce portrait mode in video.

 

[PastaPrimav]

Multiple lens are more powerful than one giant lens. That's why we have two eyes instead of one, and why a bee has a thousand "eyes". The brain can combine multiple images together and get more detail that a single lens could not capture alone.

Rather I should say multiple cameras, as all of the lenses are multi-element lenses.

And no, multiple cameras are not better than 1 camera with a much, much larger lens.

 

[Motawa]

Sorry, we were still updating the article. It has the info now. ToF is basically a laser based system that calculates the time that it takes for a laser to bounce off of objects. It should be more accurate than dot projection (aka True Depth) and it has a better range. Basically it'll make mapping indoor areas and objects better so you're going to get much better AR capabilities. Probably also some nice depth-based features for photography too.

Great. I use AR all the time

/s

 

[TantalizedMind]

Poop brown color.

Wasn’t that an exclusive launch color for the Zune?

 

[JessWinter]

I wish this would have explained what Time of Flight means

Now that would have required actual work and research. This is MacRumors, after all.

 

[mi7chy]

I wish this would have explained what Time of Flight means

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-of-flight_camera

 

[cardfan]

What do we care what 2020 phones will feature a year + out? This tells me that the 2019 iphones much be pretty boring.

then again Apple loves to promote features/apps that are a year plus out. Photoshop for iPad? Maybe Apple should just preview the 2020 iPhones this fall at their event.

 

[travis64]

Is that what some real esate agents are using to make 3d maps of property?

 

[Sasparilla]

A TOF sensor is what the Hauwei p30 Pro (that can see so well and focus in the dark) has.

I was really hoping this would be in the 2019 iPhone as part of the 3d stuff.

 

[DrJohnnyN]

Wasn’t that an exclusive launch color for the Zune?

Lol. You’re right. God, that mp3 player was hideous.

 

[shanson27]

Shame on you Apple, instead, innovate and bringing new features, is Apple now copying features that android has for years ! Even the rumored iPhone for China with Qualcomms fingerprint sensor under the glass. Where are the innovations I expected from Apple. I always though Apple follows different philosophy, to be uniqe, to create a better technology than the competion, but instead of that, we see the oposite

 

[otternonsense]

Is there anything worthwhile about the 2019 crop of iPhones other than the blatant cashgrab stopgap iteration (with an extra lens) they're gonna be?
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Shame on you Apple, instead, innovate and bringing new features, is Apple now copying features that android has for years ! Even the rumored iPhone for China with Qualcomms fingerprint sensor under the glass. Where are the innovations I expected from Apple. I always though Apple follows different philosophy, to be uniqe, to create a better technology than the competion, but instead of that, we see the oposite

They died with Steve. Tim is all about playing catch-up with higher pricing and cheaper components.
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...so you're going to get much better AR capabilities. Probably also some nice depth-based features for photography too.

It's been years of Cook's blabbering about AR and other than Pokemon go or scripted adults stacking virtual legos on their iPads in front of an empty table during presentations (or the what's a computer ad), it hasn't really gone anywhere. Will it magically stick in 1 year from now?

 

[BuddyTronic]

Group sourced 3D mapping might be really cool.

You'd expect Google to have it first, but you know what? Apple has the hardware and the potential to do the mapping software end of things, and all this with a high priority on privacy.

Google does some really neet stuff, but there is that hidden "spy on your whole life" cost to it.

I am happy with Apple's pace, even if it does sometimes leave me wishing they did all the Google things. Privacy is the trump card with Apple.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

I wish this would have explained what Time of Flight means

Edit:
Whoops... just saw that was added as an addendum! Lol

paragraph two:

A time-of-flight camera system measures the time that it takes for a laser or LED to bounce off of objects in a room, providing an accurate 3D map of the surroundings.

 

[JPack]

A TOF sensor is what the Hauwei p30 Pro (that can see so well and focus in the dark) has.

I was really hoping this would be in the 2019 iPhone as part of the 3d stuff.

No, Huawei's low-light magic comes from a combination of good software and a large sensor. The ToF sensor will make portrait mode look more natural and speed up autofocus.

 

[BuddyTronic]

Can Kuo tell me what's coming in 2021? I'm already thinking about skipping 2019. Should I skip 2020 as well?

Of course

Wait for 6G!

Your iPhone 7 has tons of life left in it, and it only costs $800 per year to keep it running on Verizon or Sprint, so why even contemplate an upgrade of any kind. Just keep spending hours telling everyone how you are never upgrading, but then secretly upgrade in February.

(sarcasm)

 

[jgbr]

So iPhone X 2017 to Iphone 2020 to iPhone 2023= three year cycles of reinvents.

 

[Phogro]

will be able to scan objects up to 15 feet away, mapping out wide areas. Face ID currently works at about 25 to 50 centimeters away.

I also love using metric and imperial units in the same sentence. Consistency is for losers.

 

[Lidar]

I am not sure where MR got their info for this article. The front LiDAR sensor for Face ID is a phase-based sensor which is very underpowered and can’t accurately create a point cloud model of your face from more than a couple of feet away (If that). The time-of-flight LiDAR has a much longer distance for returns than the phase based one. It will not have nearly as dense of a point cloud but will be able to model and range features.
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I wish this would have explained what Time of Flight means

It’s the time it takes for the laser beam to bounce off of an object and return. It’s just a different flavor or LiDAR.

 

[BuddyTronic]

So iPhone X 2017> Iphone 2020> iPhone 2023> three year cycles of reinvents.

Yeah so 2046 is a good year to buy an iPhone. But wait! Isn't that when Robotron invasion happens?

 

[lec0rsaire]

I was really looking forward to upgrading this year but with 5G and all of this nice stuff coming next year, there’s no point buying the iPhone 11.

 

[Lidar]

I was really looking forward to upgrading this year but with 5G and all of this nice stuff coming next year, there’s no point buying the iPhone 11.

That’s why Apple likes to keep things tight lipped. All of this info is going to impact this year’s sales.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

So iPhone X 2017> Iphone 2020> iPhone 2023> three year cycles of reinvents.

not sure that’s proper use of “greater than” signs, lol...
It took me a minute to realize you meant —>



also... unsure that a rumor of an upgraded camera qualifies as a “reinvent”.

 

[citysnaps]

Did you recognize how bad the 2019 models are going to be? There are much more rumors for the 2020 models than the 2019 ones.

Bad??? How so?