Apple Might Add Periscope Lens to Limited iPhone 15 Models, But There's a Catch

The iPhone 14 has not yet arrived on the market, yet several reports are already hyping up that the iPhone 15 is coming with a very impressive feature: the periscope lens.

According to a reputable Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, the Cupertino firm will be adding this exclusively to the bigger iPhone 15 Pro Max model. However, the tech titan should consider an important thing before officially rolling it out next year.

iPhone 15 Pro Max Could Receive Periscope Lens

In a story written by 9to5Mac, the iPhone 15 lineup will benefit the most from the periscope lenses. This optical feature allows the user to snap photos at a longer and better range than the telephoto lens.

So far, we only know the limitations of the telephoto lens on the existing iPhone 13 Pro smartphones. The tech site writes that it could only pull off 15 x digital zoom and 3x optical zoom.

Although the periscope lens sounds good on paper, Kuo expects that it will only be available to limited models, particularly on iPhone 15 Pro Max variant.

The Issue Behind Periscope Lens

While Apple is expected to gain massive revenues because of this excellent feature, the company needs proper discussion to acquire this mechanism from other tech firms.

Currently, Samsung holds a patent for periscope technology. However, the iPhone maker wants to exclude it as its partner. This means that Apple will need more time to look for another supplier of this technology, per Apple Insider.

In a post by Kuo on Medium, he said that the module for the periscope lens contains a pair of high-ASP prisms, a lens barrel, and a 1G2P lens. With that being said, the tipster highlighted the high-ASP materials' role in improving the product's output value.

"Apple's lens supplier will provide more complicated assembly services for the first time so Largan and Genius are expanding their production capacity in Taichung and Xiamen to meet this order," Kuo mentioned.

In this case, Kuo assumes that Apple will face issues regarding the average selling price or ASP of the periscope lens. The price will depend on the available supplier.

So far, it appears that Apple is now discussing the matters with five unidentified suppliers who can supply periscope lenses for Apple. This is a believable reason why the company could only roll it out on iPhone 15 Pro models.

In the long run, if the negotiation is successful between Apple and the future supplier, the periscope lens has a big chance of being available for iPhone 16 models. This could be a start for the tech titan to introduce this feature for the next-gen handsets.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry