The high-end 2020 iPhones will reportedly replace the optical image stabilization used in iPhone 11 cameras with sensor-shift technology, which may enable the feature for Apple’s ultra-wide lens.
Optical image stabilization is currently available for the wide lens, which is found in the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, and for the telephoto lens, which is only found in the current Pro models. The technology moves the lens element to make adjustments in the case of a shaky hand or a moving environment.
According to Taiwanese publication DigiTimes, the high-end iPhones next year will instead come with sensor-shift technology, which will apply the stabilization to the camera module itself, expanding the feature to the ultra-wide lens. It takes a different approach, but still with the same goal of improving the quality of pictures and videos by eliminating camera shake.
It is unclear, however, if switching to sensor-shift stabilization will result in better camera performance compared with keeping optical image stabilization. Apple may be making the change for other reasons, such as to open up more space in the internals of next year’s iPhones or to reduce costs for the devices.
DigiTimes, which has previously reported on rumors related to Apple, has been hit or miss in its reports. However, if the rumor of the change to sensor-shift stabilization is true, it will likely be linked to some sort of improvement for the iPhone 12 compared with its predecessors.
Apple is said to be working to maintain the current lineup’s price for next year’s iPhones, despite the addition of 5G components that will cost an additional $30 to $100 in the production of the devices, according to a research note by reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Replacing optical image stabilization with sensor-shift stabilization may have something to do with this dilemma, but for now, its role can not be verified.
The final price and features of the 2020 iPhones will not be confirmed any time soon, as the iPhone 11 lineup was just recently released. However, as the world starts stepping into a future powered by 5G technology, Apple, as well as other smartphone manufacturers, are now scrambling to create devices that will take advantage of it.
