Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
It seems Apple is finally quick to play the megapixels game . After serving 12 - megapixel camera arrays on its smartphones for a healthy few genesis , Apple finally put a 48MP sensor on theiPhone 14 Propair . A year subsequently , the entire iPhone 15 serial got the same treatment .
harmonize to diligence analystMing - Chi Kuo , that impulse will continue with theiPhone 16 series . In an investor note , Kuo arrogate that the iPhone 16 Pro dyad will get a new 48MP ultrawide - angle photographic camera detector — a big jumping from the 12MP extensive - angle snapper on theiPhone 15andiPhone 15 professional .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
In addition to a gamey megapixel tally , the detector size will also be heavy , which is great news show . The pixel size , however , has been shrunk from 1 micrometer on the iPhone 15 Pro ’s 12MP sensor to 0.7 - micron on the iPhone 16 Pro ’s 48MP ultrawide building block .
But that ’s not necessarily big news . Camera sensor of such in high spirits resolution rely on a technique scream “ pixel binning . ” This technical school essentially combines neighboring pixels to create an contrived super pixel , one that pull together and processes more abstemious information , thereby producing more elaborated images .
look on the sensor solvent , it can take many forms . In the case of 48MP sensors , it follows a 4 - in-1 data format where a 2×2 raiment of adjacent pel is flux to create a larger super picture element . In doing so , the sensing element sizing is in effect doubled , to 1.4 - microns in the iPhone 16 Pro ’s case .
The leave image turns out to be 12MP in resolution . but contains less noise and better colors than what a aboriginal 12MP sensing element can birth . Another reward of pixel binning is that it deliver noticeably better results in lowlight situation .
The grownup advantage of kick upstairs to a 48MP ultrawide camera , aside from the boost in raw quality , is that there will now be little disparity in the timber of image achieved from the main and ultrawide cameras on the iPhone 16 Pro .
It ’s a meaningful raise and a big one for iPhone loyalist , particularly considering the conservative approach Apple train toward hardware innovation . The move also bring Apple closer to the competition in the Android segment , where rival smartphone makers are either picking 48MP or 50MP sensors for ultrawide photography .
However , Apple is still yet to catch up with the challenger in the number game . The likes of Samsung and Xiaomi have armed their headphone with 108MP and 200MP cameras , which either do 9 - in-1 picture element bin or apply the pixel combining formula double to reach a smaller , but high - quality image .
Down the road , Kuo exact that Apple will stir to a 24MP front tv camera , starting with the iPhone 17 series . This would be another major displacement for Apple after years of sticking to a 12MP TrueDepth camera scheme on iPhones .
