iPhone 15 Pro could get a 5X telephoto zoom camera

Latest leak suggests the iPhone 15 Pro is expected to feature a telephoto camera with 5X optical magnification.

The iPhone 15 Pro could end up getting a 5X optical zoom camera on 2023. (HT Tech)

The iPhone has so far restricted itself to a modest zoom camera and it is only this year when we saw Apple offering a 3X optical telephoto camera. That said, when compared to cameras on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which has a 10X telephoto camera, it falls behind in clarity. It seems that Apple is not willing to anything about it in this year's iPhone 14 Pro but next year's iPhone 15 Pro could get the attention in this regard.

In a report from 9To5Mac, analyst Jeff Pu says that Apple is currently testing 5X optical zoom camera on prototype devices. The feature is expected to get ready by May 2022 and could end up in the high-end models of 2023. This means that Apple could offer the 5X periscope zoom cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The leak says that Lante Optics will manufacture 100 million units of the zoom camera component for Apple.

iPhone 15 Pro to get 5X zoom camera

Periscope zoom cameras aren't new – they have been around for a couple of years now on Android phones. Periscope camera systems offer better optical magnification, which allows for superior quality zoomed images over ones obtained from digital cropping. Lately, phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra feature two zoom cameras – one for long-range magnification and one for shooting portraits.

Note that the current generation iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max can also zoom up to 10X digitally but the quality deteriorates beyond 5X considerably. This is where the Galaxy S21 Ultra excels with its optical 10X zoom camera.

While the iPhone 15 Pro is still a few years away, leaks related to the iPhone 14 Pro have emerged. This year's iPhone 14 Pro is expected ditch the display notch in favour of a hole camera cutout. 

The main camera on the iPhone 14 Pro this is expected to get a new 48MP image sensor instead of the 12MP sensor we have seen on far on existing iPhones. Additionally, the iPhone 14 Pro is also expected to get a new design reminiscent of the iPhone 4S' sharper glass design.