Will the iPhone 15 Pro feature a periscope camera like Google Pixel 7 Pro?

For iPhone photography, improving optical zoom to 5x or 6x is essential for various scenarios, including capturing distant subjects like children on a playground or artists on stage. Additionally, it benefits nature and landscape photography by providing extended telephoto reach.

Google's premium Pixel phones incorporated periscope telephoto cameras in 2022, utilizing prisms to redirect light inside the camera body, accommodating longer zoom lenses while maintaining a slim smartphone design.

The iPhone 14 Pro introduced a 3x zoom telephoto lens, equivalent to a 72mm DSLR lens. Although competitive, it falls short of the 5x camera on Google's Pixel 7 Pro or the 3x and 10x cameras on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. While the iPhone has gained market share, its telephoto photography remains a competitive disadvantage.

How periscope cameras function: Telephoto cameras inherently require physically longer lens assemblies. Periscope cameras, also known as folded cameras, solve this by housing much of the length horizontally inside the phone. The outer lens appears like a standard phone camera, but a prism or mirror behind it redirects light at a 90-degree angle. High-quality prisms minimally affect image quality.

Today's periscope cameras offer 5x zoom, roughly equivalent to a 120mm focal length on a traditional camera. Google's Pixel 7 Pro can even achieve 10x zoom, around 240mm, using central pixels on a high-resolution image sensor without digital magnification.

Comparison to traditional cameras: While periscope cameras provide improved zoom, they can't match the capabilities of serious photographers with traditional cameras and telephoto lenses, especially bulky and expensive supertelephoto lenses. One limitation is the relatively small image sensors in periscope cameras, affecting low-light performance.

Some smartphones, like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, include both a 3x conventional camera and a 10x periscope camera to cover a broader range. Higher-resolution image sensors, such as those in the Pixel 7 and iPhone 14 Pro, offer 2x modes as alternatives. Additionally, Sony's Xperia 1 V provides a continuous zoom range from 3.5x to 5.2x.

Rumors of a larger main camera sensor in the iPhone 15 Pro could open up more zoom possibilities for Apple. Flagship smartphones continue to approach the zoom flexibility of traditional cameras year by year.