Apple’s iPhones, on the other hand, do offer zoom but not to that extent, but that could change in the iPhone 15. According to analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities in a note seen by 9to5Mac, the analyst believes that come the iPhone 15, Apple could actually offer a periscope camera.
This periscope camera will allow the iPhone to shoot 5x optical zoom, allowing users to zoom in on subjects far away with crisper and cleaner images. Optical is general preferred over digital because how digital zoom works is that it basically crops the image, which is why it usually results in photos being blurry.
A periscope design would allow Apple to create a 5x optical zoom camera without adding too much additional bulk to the camera module. Since the iPhone 15 is more than a year away, it’s hard to say if this is true so for now, don’t put too much stock into it.