New Report Reveals Apple’s Most Compelling iPhone 15 Upgrades
Apple’s iPhone 15 series is tipped to feature significant upgrades over the current iPhone 14 range … [+]
With Apple’s highly-anticipated “Wonderlust” launch event just days away, a new industry report predicts pivotal iPhone 15 upgrades that could “tip the scales” for those still on the fence about buying one of the company’s next-gen smartphones.
The main attraction of the iPhone 15 series, according to market intelligence company TrendForce Research, will be the new cameras which are expected to receive substantial hardware upgrades over the current iPhone 14 models.
The report claims that both the iPhone 15 and the larger iPhone 15 Plus models will include primary rear cameras powered by Sony’s latest 2-Layer Transistor Pixel technology. This upgrade, previously tipped to arrive with next year’s iPhone 16 series by renowned industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, allows for significant improvements in image quality. This can be achieved without having to increase the physical size of the sensor or the number of megapixels, although these factors can be increased too for even greater benefits.
These improvements come from the new sensor’s ability to capture brighter highlights and deeper shadows at the same time, enabling more lifelike photos to be captured with less software processing. It also means Apple can make significant advancements in camera quality without having to resort to the huge camera bulges typically found on the best-performing Chinese smartphone cameras.
For this reason, the report anticipates that new sensor technologies such as Sony’s will play a greater role in future smartphone camera development than increases in megapixel resolution or sensor size. Developments in AI-based processing are also expected to deliver a transformative effect on smartphone camera quality, something Apple is ideally positioned to exploit given the expected performance of its forthcoming A17 Bionic chip.
These advancements come amid a forecasted 3.2 percent dip in global smartphone image sensor shipments, which Trendforce attributes to global inflation, economic uncertainty in China and a tendency for consumers to hang on to their smartphones for longer before upgrading. Apple’s new cameras, on the other hand, should give iPhone fans plenty of good reasons to open their wallets.
Also important, although unrelated to sensor technology, is Apple’s long-awaited periscope lens upgrade, coming exclusively to the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max, while the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are expected to inherit the Dynamic Island feature from the Pro series. All iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models will also come with USB Type-C charging ports instead of Apple’s proprietary Lighting connector.
All will be revealed on September 12 when Apple launches its new iPhone 15 ranges at 10am PT and streamed online from apple.com.
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Source: www.forbes.com
