iPhone photography has come a long old way since the first model emerged in 2007, with this year's iPhone 13 Pro range featuring stunning cinematic tools such as automatic focus shifting and ProRes image quality. But zoom forward to 2023, and iPhone camera tech could be about to reach ridiculous new heights.
We've heard tell for a while that Apple is working on adding a periscope camera lens to the iPhone, and a new analyst report suggests it'll be the iPhone 15 that finally adopts the tech. Indeed, 2023 could be a big year for our best camera phones roundup.
The iPhone 13 Pro's camera setup is already impressive (Image credit: Apple)
As spotted by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu has claimed that "at least one" iPhone 15 will feature a periscope lens with up to 10x optical zoom. While it's a little disappointing that the tech won't be arriving this year (at one point it was even rumoured for the iPhone 13), a periscope lens certainly sounds worth waiting for. So how does the tech actually work?
A periscope camera lens in action (Image credit: 9to5Mac)
Periscope lenses, as the name suggests, use mirrors to achieve a much higher optical zoom in a tiny package. The tech has already made its way into a few smartphones – Huawei's P40 Pro Plus (below) uses a periscope lens to achieve an incredible 10x optical zoom without loss of quality and, when combined with digital zoom, can even hit 50x.
The Huawei P40 Pro Plus features a periscope lens (Image credit: Huawei)
While periscope lenses have started appearing on rival phones, for creatives who prefer the Apple ecosystem, the company's move towards periscope lenses is great news. The iPhone 13 Pro might be our best camera phone right now, but it seems it could be blown away in two iPhones' time.
Could we be edging closer to a world where your smartphone is the only camera you'll ever need? We wouldn't say any of our best cameras have anything to worry about just yet, but if you want the latest and greatest iPhone camera tech available now, check out the best iPhone 13 deals below. And be sure to take a look at everything we know about the iPhone 14.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.
