Ever since it unveiled the iPhone 5s and 5c in 2013, Apple has split its iPhone launch lineup in two each year. According to well-connected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, however, Apple may further subdivide its iPhones — with not one but two iPhone 7 Plus variants set to arrive this September.
In a Wednesday note to investors, Kuo claims that Apple will launch one 5.5-inch handset with the regular iSight camera, while a second, rarer version will sport a dual-camera design for higher-definition images.
If true, this would likely build on work carried out by LinX Imaging, an Israeli company which Apple acquired last April for a reported $20 million. In June 2015, LinX unveiled its first multi-aperture cameras designed for mobile devices.
KGI also puts forward the possibility that the high-end iPhone 7 Plus will feature an optical zoom, boasting 2-3x magnification.
Kuo thinks that the high-end dual-camera iPhone 7 Plus will be in short supply early on, and that it will make up just 25 to 35 percent of the eventual iPhone 7 Plus shipments in 2016. On top of this, he anticipates that it will be more expensive than its other iPhone stablemates, which makes a lot of sense.
As someone who uses their iPhone camera a great deal, I’d love to see Apple push the technology as far as possible. With that said, combined with the rumors that Apple will release a 4-inch iPhone this year, is it potentially damaging to further dilute the simplicity of the iPhone lineup by introducing four separate iPhone models — all presumably with their own variable storage options?
Then again, with iPhone sales finally levelling off, maybe Apple just wants to throw things at the wall to see what sticks!
Via: Apple Insider
