Rumors suggest the iPhone 15 Pro will get a periscope lens in 2023

By Prakhar Khanna January 4, 2022

The iPhone 13 series is just a few months old, but rumors surrounding the next iPhone lineup are in full swing. Unsurprisingly, we are also hearing what Apple might not include on the iPhone 14, which means it’ll come to the next generation, presumably the anticipated iPhone 15. One such feature is a periscope lens.

Why does a periscope lens matter anyway?

According to a report from MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu claims that Apple will include a periscope lens on the Pro model of the 2023 iPhones. For those unaware, a periscope lens helps increase the optical zoom capacity, helping you snap better-quality zoom shots. A periscope lens has an mirror angled toward the camera’s image sensor that reflects the light entering the telephoto camera. This setup allows smartphone manufacturers to put in a longer telephoto setup inside their phones, which helps users zoom in further without any blurriness.

The periscope lens rumor isn’t coming out of the blue. Past leaks, some ranging as far back as 2020, have claimed the possibility of the iPhone 15 Pro getting better optical zoom capabilities with a periscope camera. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had initially claimed that a periscope lens would be an iPhone 14 Pro feature, which seems unlikely now with the recent reports. It looks like Apple fans will have to wait another year to get their hands on an iPhone with a periscope lens.

By contrast, Samsung and Huawei already sell smartphones with periscope lenses. The Galaxy S21 Ultra and Huawei’s P40 Pro+ are some of the latest devices with up to 10x optical zoom – a feature that is touted for 2023 iPhones.

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Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…

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