The iPhone 6s is set to get a considerable camera boost, as per a Weibo posting from Kevin Wang, IHS Technology’s research director in China.
After years of using 8MP cameras in its iPhones, Wang claims the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are likely to boast 12MP cameras — theoretically greatly improving the current standard of iPhone photography, which is already pretty darn high.
But there’s a twist.
According to Wang, the 12MP number alone doesn’t tell the whole story. While the popular perception is that megapixels are the only thing affecting photo quality, Wang says the pixel size in the new cameras is likely to be smaller than those in current iPhones.
Since larger pixels can sometimes lead to less noise and improved images in low-light situations, it’s not yet clear how Apple’s new camera will stack up against previous models, even if one presumes Apple won’t make the technological leap unless it is going to pay off significantly.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a camera upgrade for the next wave of iPhones, likely to arrive in about four months. A previous report suggested that Apple is planning to create a dual-lens camera with optical zoom capabilities and a Force Touch 3-D pressure sensor for the iPhone 6s.
A jam-packed rundown of news about the iPhone 6s earlier this week, courtesy of well-connected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, also mentioned the 12MP camera.
But will the lens still jut out?
Via: GforGames
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
4 responses to “Smile! iPhone 6s camera is set for a major upgrade”
“it’s not yet clear how Apple’s new camera will stack up against previous models”
Come on now…this is silly. Of course it’ll be better than previous versions or they won’t use it.
I’m hoping we see something based on Apple’s acquisition of Linx in the next iPhone.
“Set for major upgrade”.. Which one is it? It was only mentioned about the rumored 12 megapixels.. which by themselves is an image with less quality. Where’s the second half of the article that talks about the major upgrade?
I was thinking the same Jaime. I think Apple’s current sensor is ideal moving forward. While an increase in detail at ISO 100, 80, or as low as …what ISO 32? These perfectly lot daylight shots are rare. They’re already damn close to resolving the details cameras with double the megapixels manage to capture, but with the deeper pixel pitch, iOS has continued its top, or maybe top 2 or 3 cameras in lower light situations. The 6+ optical stabilization, regardless of the ‘small’ difference some reviews allude to — those reviews are completely absurd. Tripling or quadrupling the shutter speed in less than ideal light is a HUGE boost to low light performance!
If Apple continues the refinement of the aperture, uses newly acquired technology with focus pixels, and continues refinement of the optical stabilator system…you’ve got the perfect 4k capture cam as well! It’s already shooting 240fps @ 720p. Easily the most fluent 1080p/60 shooter on the market (I’m ambidextrous, I’ve always used both iOS and Android, currently the 6+ & Note 4; personal/business). I’ve no experience with Sammy’s new S6 looks promising…but to get there, the pixels are nearly 40% shallower pixel pitch, a Massive ‘bump’ in comparison with its twin brother, the iPhone 6+! Doubling the pixel count’s certainly not doubled the performance. Maybe 12mpxl is the sweet spot with the ability to also electronically crop while shooting motion. Kind of a hybrid optical/electronic stabilization system that shoots pristine, shake free 4k
IMHO, that’s the ‘big’ camera update this fall. 4k shooting. I just don’t see Apple going higher in megapixel count without reason OR with regression to its already well refined ‘guts’. A 5D mkIII is full frame 35mm sensor size. Yet not quite 3 fold the count on the iPhone. Yet the sensor ‘area’ is MANY times the ….tens of times larger area in comparison. Small sensor cameras walk a fine line of higher megapixel count equaling higher noise, even in daytime shots. 8 megapixels still prints high quality 8×10, even larger. It’s certainly plenty for web or the displays we’re using these days. Unless you’re using a true 4k display or the iMac r5k, you’re not seeing the ‘whole picture’ pixel for pixel right now. On the best of 1080p displays! Imagine a pixel perfect shot at eight megapixels and/or killer, stabilized 4k/60s motion capture! One of the biggest drawbacks currently shooting 4k on my Note 4 is its lack of stabilization. Mandating tripod use. As well, the cooling internally limits ahooting to five minutes. While fine in most situations, and incredibly large file sizes to boot….it’s still very limited, it’s gorgeous, but the first to market with 4k/60 and 8 megapixel ‘spray and pray’ machine gun shooting with pixel focus shall rule the Roos! Again, subjective but I’ve been shooting both still and motion for thirty years and the advance,EMT in digital over the past decade has been mind blowing. Backlighting of the CMOS sensors, deeper pitch, wider apertures and optical stabilization along with its own ‘CPU’ (ISP) in order to capture the shots, process them and save them, taking a significant load off the SoC.
To me, that’s the final piece to the puzzle. The hardware and implementation of the imaging to utilize its own processing, even buggered RAM/NAND ‘diret’ writes…all help the speed of the shot latency, the ability to shoot High Rez motion, without stressing the SoC, freeing it up to use filters (ND, polarizing, UV, not the goofy sepia digital attempts…the actual filtering we use on the DSLRs