According to an earlier source, Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro series will debut a 5x periscopic camera module. The iPhone 15 Pro Max will reportedly be the only device to use the new zoom lens, according to a recent claim from South Korea’s The Elec.
The zoom and OIS actuators for the iPhone 15 Pro Max smartphone will be provided by South Korean companies LG Innotek and Jahwa Electronics, according to the report. Actuators are anticipated to come from LG Innotek and Jahwa Electronics in proportions of 70% and 30%, respectively.
According to the report, these actuators use a new “folded zoom” technology that bends light within a prism and then transmits it to the image sensor to keep camera module size from increasing. These ball-guided actuators outperform the current spring actuators used in Apple’s telephoto modules and folded zoom modules.
However, the existing iPhone camera module actuator manufacturers, Japan’s Alps and Mitsumi, are expected to manufacture the existing spring-type actuators for the remaining iPhone 15 models.
According to reports, Apple plans to expand this folded zoom technology to all Pro models, beginning with the iPhone 16 series, though it will only be available on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
It will be fascinating to see how Apple combines its software algorithms to improve the zoom capabilities of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. More information on this subject should be available in the coming weeks.
