Kuo: iPhones will get telephoto camera with periscopic lens in 2023

Well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects the iPhones that come out in 2023 will get a telephoto camera with a periscopic lens. Kuo also reports that the iPhone 14 Pro phones, which should be released next year, will have a primary 48-megapixel camera.

Kuo makes these predictions in a research note to analyst firm TF International Securities, MacRumors writes. Periscopic telephoto lenses have ‘folded optics’. The lens is placed perpendicular to the device and mirrors are used to reflect the light onto the sensor. Periscopic telephoto lenses allow a greater focal length compared to traditional telephoto lenses.

Kuo previously predicted that iPhones would get periscopic telephoto lenses. More than a year ago, the analyst reported that this would happen in 2022, but Kuo adjusted this expectation to 2023 on Monday. Several smartphone manufacturers already offer periscopic lenses in their devices. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and S21 Ultra, among others, have such a lens. The Huawei P40 Pro+ also has a periscopic telephoto lens.

Kuo further emphasizes that the iPhone 14 Pro series will have a primary 48-megapixel camera, compared to the 12-megapixel sensor in the iPhone 13 Pro phones. The analyst did that earlier. Kuo reports few details. He previously predicted that this sensor should enable 8k video recording. The iPhone 14 Pro camera sensor could also support two different outputs, at 48 and 12 megapixels. For that second resolution, pixel binning would be used, where multiple pixels are merged into a single pixel. That should provide better image quality in low light. Kuo expects the 48-megapixel sensor to be used only in the Pro models.

The iPhone 14 Pro phones are also likely to get a punch-hole selfie camera with Face ID, Kuo previously reported. The phone may have an iPhone 4 like design with a thicker casing, flat sides and round volume buttons. Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech previously shared renders of an alleged iPhone 14 Pro Max. The next iPhones are expected to arrive in the second half of 2022.

Previously published renders of the alleged iPhone 14 Pro Max. Images via Front Page Tech