To meet the photography needs of a wide range of users, current flagship smartphones commonly incorporate periscope-style telephoto cameras. Recently, it seems that a new patent related to periscope lenses has been revealed for use on iPhones by Apple. According to recent leaks, this patent may allow for meeting autofocus and optical zoom requirements through a new electric architecture that shifts the lens, while significantly reducing the protrusion of the camera module.
That is the much-anticipated 48MP periscope camera, rumored to be armed to iPhone 15 Pro Max model.
What is Periscope Camera?
One of biggest selling points of the iPhone 15 Pro Max oughts to be its periscope camera. Utilizing innovative engineering, the periscope camera is designed to seamlessly integrate a telephoto lens within the compact confines of a smartphone, enabling the capture of distant subjects in photographs like mountains or musicians.
To be more specific, periscope cameras (aka. folded cameras), operate by cleverly arranging a significant portion of their length horizontally within the smartphone's body. The exterior lens resembles that of a typical phone camera, but concealed behind it lies either a prism or a mirror that redirects light at a 90-degree angle.
We recall the traditional telephoto lens. When they zoom, you can see the lens physically get longer, causing it to jut out. This cannot be done with smartphones on a large scale. That's why periscope camera comes into being. The periscope camera employs a technique that involves guiding light through a series of lenses arranged vertically or horizontally within the phone's body. This arrangement redirects the light at a right angle during the final step. Instead of protruding outward to achieve greater zoom, each lens is internally aligned within the phone, spanning its width or height, and the light is redirected through a 90-degree prism before passing through the camera lens.
Another significant camera upgrade for the iPhone 15 Pro Max/iPhone 15 Ultra is a "triple-stack" sensor that enhances its light-capturing capabilities. With this feature, photos taken with the iPhone and other flagships are better able to capture attractive images in low-light conditions thanks to their respective night modes. In night mode, long-exposure photography can extract more details.
What is iPhone 15 Periscope Camera Max Zoom Range
In real-world use, this novel lens empowers the iPhone 15 Pro Max to achieve a 6x optical zoom capability. In contrast, earlier iPhone iterations were limited to a 3x optical zoom, providing a significantly enhanced hardware-based zoom capability before the image quality degraded due to digital enhancement.
The rumored iPhone 15 Pro Max periscope camera has an cutting edge over its predecessor iPhone 14 Pro Max. But it's not the same when it comes to its competitors. After all, this technology isn't particularly groundbreaking. Following its characteristic approach, Apple is adopting this trend relatively late compared to other companies. Samsung, for instance, has been implementing it since the release of the Galaxy S20 Ultra in 2020. Presently, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features an impressive 10x optical zoom, thanks to its periscope lens. Similarly, Google's Pixel 7 Pro has already been improved to 5x optical zoom. Well, you might expect more surprises from iPhone 15 like USB type-C charging slot, A17 bionic chip, etc.
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Rico has been fascinated with mobile technology for as long as he can remember. He is keen to share his experiences to those who get stuck in data transfer for both iOS and Android users. Besides his regular passion related to mobile data management, he also enjoys reading books, playing games and occasionally watching Marvel inspired movies.
