Every year, Apple introduces various upgrades to its iPhone cameras, but it seems that if analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s report is accurate, we shouldn’t expect any major upgrades to the iPhone’s main camera until 2023. The analyst claims that the upgrades will mostly be applied to both the ultrawide and telephoto lenses for the 2021 and 2022 models.
It should be noted that it doesn’t mean that there will be no upgrades at all. There could be minor hardware changes but nothing particularly significant. Also, Apple is still expected to introduce changes and improvements on the software side, so even if the main camera’s hardware remains untouched, Apple could still squeeze out more performance from it through its software.
To be fair, many photographers with traditional cameras don’t necessarily upgrade their cameras annually, and a lot of times, a good photo is more than just about hardware and more about composition, understanding lighting, and so on, so the potential lack of upgrade is more of a marketing standpoint.
That being said, as for the ultrawide and telephoto lenses, Kuo believes that we could be looking at a wider aperture for the ultrawide, going from f/2.4 to f/1.8, while the telephoto lens could go up to a 10x optical zoom. In any case, take this with a grain of salt for now, but we’ll have to wait for the official announcement for the exact details.