According to a report from South Korea’s ETNews today, Apple is looking for suppliers of “folding cameras” in order to strengthen the optical zoom feature of its iPhone, and plan to discuss with relevant companies, attracting industry attention.
Through the periscope lens, a smartphone lens sensor with a thinner volume and a better zoom performance can be manufactured. On this basis, a thin and light smartphone with a large aperture lens with equivalent long focal length (EFL) and total lens length (TTL) can be obtained without increasing the thickness of the camera module. This means that the cameras within the iPhone and upcoming devices may have the potential to reach DSLR quality and zoom but in a hand-held form.
Samsung is believed to hold key patents related to the folded camera, which led people to raise the likelihood of a collaboration between Apple and Samsung Electronics or Samsung Electro-Mechanics. In fact, the Israel-based Corephotonics owns several folded camera patents and was acquired by Samsung Electronics in 2019, thereby making Samsung more suitable for the component.
It is worth noting that as of now, only sources from the Korean industry indicate that Apple intends to explore this field. And, even if Apple has successfully negotiated a periscope lens supplier this year, it does not necessarily suggest that the iPhone next year will be featured with this component.
