BIG leak! iPhone 15 may get a camera upgrade even the iPhone 15 Pro will not

According to a new leak, the iPhone 15 might come with a stacked CIS, a camera upgrade that the iPhone 15 Pro may miss out on. It will then likely be introduced in the iPhone 16 Pro models. Check the details.

This iPhone 15 camera upgrade will not even come to the iPhone 15 Pro models. Know all about it. (Representative Image) (Pexels)

Apple has been increasing the divide between its Pro and non-Pro models. While the standard models have always received one or two fewer upgrades compared to the Pro and Pro Max models, in the iPhone 14 series, the standard model and the iPhone 14 Plus missed out on the adaptive refresh rate, always-on display, the A16 Bionic chipset, as well as the 48MP cameras. The divide is expected to stay in the upcoming iPhone 15 series as well. However, a new leak has suggested that this rule might be broken for one particular upgrade. According to this report, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus can get a stacked CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) image sensor (CIS), something the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will not.

The latest information comes from Apple tipster Ming-Chi Kuo's Medium post, where he said, “Following two 2H23 iPhone 15 standard models, two 2H24 iPhone 16 Pro models will also adopt stacked-designed CIS, so Sony's high-end CIS capacity will continue to be tight in 2024, benefiting Will Semi to continue to obtain more orders for high-end CIS from Chinese smartphone brands”.

To break it down, Sony's high-end CIS camera system is likely to be featured on the non-Pro iPhone 15 models and then they will go to the iPhone 16 Pro models, meaning the iPhone 15 Pro models will not feature this change. While no explanation for this was provided in the report, this might be done in order to make the standard iPhones more attractive in the eyes of the customer.

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iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus to get stacked CIS

For those confused about what a stacked CIS is and how can it enhance the smartphone's camera performance, this is how you should understand it. CIS is a relatively new technology, that adds additional layers on top of the photodiode layer in order to improve the overall circuitry of the camera system. These layers can offer additional noise reduction, brighter image production, capturing higher details, and overall better image processing. However, the exact impact of this change can only be assessed after the devices are launched.

On top of that, some reports have also suggested that the iPhone 15 standard models may finally get the 48MP Sony IMX803 image sensor to upgrade from the current model's 12MP camera, which would further bolster the performance of the upcoming devices.

Do note, the information shared here is based on leaks and rumors and there is no confirmation from official Apple sources regarding this. So, you should take it with a healthy amount of skepticism and wait till the smartphones are launched to really know what each iPhone 15 model will feature.