A rumor is circulating on Twitter that the iPhone 15 Pro Max could be equipped with a variable zoom telephoto lens, which would allow it to offer better versatility when it comes to photography. The image sensors would remain the same as for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra is currently the zoom king of smartphones. It includes a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x zoom and a 10MP periscope camera with 10x optical zoom. In contrast, the iPhone 14 Pro Max can only optically zoom up to 3x.
A few recent rumors have suggested that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will only feature a single variable zoom camera and it looks like the iPhone 15 Pro will also take the same approach.
A variable zoom lens for the iPhone 15 Ultra, what is it?
Currently, Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra (our test here) is considered the zoom leader in terms of smartphones. It is equipped with a 10 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and a 10 MP periscope camera with 10x optical zoom. In contrast, the iPhone 14 Pro Max can only optically zoom up to 3x. If the leak turns out to be true, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a vari-zoom telephoto lens, which means users will be able to switch between two focal lengthsthus offering greater versatility.
A variable zoom camera is different from a fixed zoom camera because it allows the user to change between two preset focal lengths. The Sony Xperia 1 III is an example of a camera with a variable zoom lens. The phone is equipped with a movable glass that allows switching between two different zooms (3x and 4.4x), and can also digitally zoom between them.
To read: iPhone 15: price, release date, technical sheet, what we already know
If this leak turns out to be true, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will offer its users two telephoto lenses, which will be a major addition to the iPhone’s camera arsenal. It could also help Apple win the title of best camera phone of the year. The iPhone 14 Pro Max’s camera bump is big enough already, and adding a vari-focal-length telephoto lens instead of two separate telephoto lenses might help reduce its size.
According to Revegnus (the informant of this rumor), the iPhone 15 Pro Max will have the same image sensors as its predecessor, which means that the main camera will have a resolution of 48 MP, an ultra-wide of 12 ,MP and a 12 MP telephoto lens. Most reports indicate that the new periscope lens will be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which may be named iPhone 15 Ultra. It is also possible that the Pro model does not benefit from this configuration.
