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Sketchy rumor of 13MP camera in iPhone 6, as earlier battery power rumor backed by claimed photo

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GforGames is citing a Chinese web forum for a rumor that the iPhone 6 camera will get a bump from 8MP to 13MP as Apple switches to to an improved version of the Sony Exmor sensor. The Sony Exmor IMX220 is a larger 1/2.3-inch sensor that can support up to 20MP, but Apple is said to be planning to use it in its 13MP incarnation.

While a Chinese web forum is generally as unreliable a source as you can get, GoforGames claims that this one has a good track-record with Sony-related rumors … 

It should be noted that Apple has always opted for relatively modest megapixel counts for the very good reason that the more pixels you cram into a given sensor size, the worse the low-light performance. An 8MP image allows for high-quality prints in poster sizes, so there has so far been little argument for joining the megapixel arms race – and rumors that it won’t do so. Apple also generally only boosts the camera specs in S model phones.

However, as we move toward the era of 4K monitors (with an Apple one likely somewhere in the works), it’s possible that Apple may have decided that the time is right to boost the resolution – and a larger sensor size should allow it to retain the iPhone’s low-light capabilities.

An earlier rumor that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will have a battery in the 1800-1900mAh range got a boost today when NWE posted a photo (shown in full below) of what is claimed to be the battery for the 4.7-inch iPhone, showing a capacity of 1810mAh. This was said to be a necessary compromise to make the new phone slimmer.

If real, this would be a 16 percent improvement over the iPhone 5s, but the additional juice will likely be needed to power the larger screen, suggesting that battery-life may remain roughly the same. However, it has also been rumored that Apple is favoring power efficiency over performance boosts in the new model iPhone, so it’s still possible that we’ll see improved battery life.

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Among the other claimed iPhone 6 parts we’ve seen recently are a scratch test of a sapphire display; both photos and video of the back of the phone; the LCD bracket; the chassis; and a ‘more durable’ Touch ID sensor.

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Comments

  1. Sebastian Rasch - 10 years ago

    Very sketchy rumour indeed. Btw, 4k is already possible with 8 MP, no need to go for a higher resolution.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

      It is, but the visual quality improves with higher resolution

      • Sebastian Rasch - 10 years ago

        Not necessarily. The native resolution involves a sharper image against scaled imagery.

      • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

        Downsizing images tends to improve perceived sharpness

      • Sebastian Rasch - 10 years ago

        That’s just plain wrong. It might LOOK sharper in some specific cases but it is actually not at all. When playing a 4k video on a 4k screen, you have best results when the video was recorded in native 4k resolution as well. If you play the same video on a 2.5k screen, let’s say 2560×1440, it’s possible it looks sharper but that doesn’t have anything to do with recording in higher resolution and scale it down in the camera. In this case, you have the same quality at the most but most likely you will lose sharpness.

      • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

        I’m talking about photos rather than video. And by ‘visual quality’ I’m absolutely talking about how it looks, which is what counts.

    • Kevin (@kevinwiseman) - 10 years ago

      13MP lets you zoom in a bit without the picture getting pixel-ized.

  2. PMZanetti - 10 years ago

    I’ll take 8 MP photos for the rest of my life as long as actual camera performance continues to improve. The 5s takes a MUCH better 8 MP photo than the 4S did….I expect the improvement trend to continue with the iPhone 6.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

      The megapixel race certainly has been silly so far. Cramming 20MP into a tiny sensor as some companies do just results in horrible noise in all but perfect light. I’ve been pleased to see Apple resist this.

      • Sebastian Rasch - 10 years ago

        I agree with you in this one.

  3. iJonni - 10 years ago

    Huizhou battery company? I’ve never seen that on an apple sourced battery. Calling that false.

  4. Michael Perry (@Alticus) - 10 years ago

    It would be really unfortunate if the battery was really that small AND the A8 really didn’t have speed increases but only power efficiency increases. Seems like a waste of a flagship.

    • Michael Perry (@Alticus) - 10 years ago

      A waste purely for the sake of unneeded infatuation with thinness.

      • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

        I tend to agree with both of you – personally I value battery-life over slimness, but we’re in a minority, so I can certainly understand Apple’s (likely) decision.

      • herb02135go - 10 years ago

        People who choose slim over performance really have it backward.

        For most of us a smartphone is a tool, not a fashion accessory.

      • rettun1 - 10 years ago

        Nobody has anything backwards – people like phones for different reasons. I’d like a thinner phone because it would be as lightweight as possible, beautiful, and use less materials to build, and so less will be wasted if the phone gets trashed or something.

        But battery is very important. My 5s makes it through the day, but sometimes only barely. And keep in mind that the iPad Air got dramatically thinner, received a smaller battery, and actually had an increase in battery life. The same could be done with the iPhone, with the only difference being that the iPad Air had the same screen resolution at the 4th gen, and the phone is expected to have a bump in screen res.

  5. gatortpk - 10 years ago

    A 13MP camera seems likely because it is needed for 4K video AND taking the usual 4:3 ratio shots. 4K is exactly 4,096. A 4096×3072 image yields 12,585,912 pixels, or rounded up 13MP. It is true that consumer 4K VIDEO is about 8.3MP, which is still a bit more than 8MP, but then all the still shots would be 16:9 ratio. Not acceptable. Still shots are typically 4:3 ratio. My 8MP sensor on my iPhone 5s takes shots at 3264×2448 pixels. Multiply and you get 7.99MP, divide and you get 1.333 = 4/3 = 4:3 ratio. Still shots are 4:3 ratio now.

    To get very close to 13MP, you could use a sensor with 4160×3120 pixels, which is 12.9792 MP.

    If you wanted to shoot consumer 4K video at 3840×2160 you would need a 4:3 ratio sensor with 3840×2880 pixels which is 11MP, but why not increase the size for a little buffer and to cover true 4K=4096 pixels wide.

    Cameras sensors usually have pixel dimensions that are divisible by 16 so a 4160×3120 seems just right for a 13MP image. (260•195)16 = 12,979,200 ~ 13MP

    4160 pixels wide is neatly just above the minimum of 4096 or 3840 pixels wide for 4K video.

  6. grnbills - 10 years ago

    With the new iPhone 6 coming out I better sell my old iPhone before the value of it drops. I usually search 8-13 different sites to find the best offer, but I just found this company that compares all the buyback companies in one spot, it’s called RecomHub.

    It’s like Kayak but for electronic devices that show you all the offers in one spot.

    • rettun1 - 10 years ago

      That sounds like a great idea, I LOVE recomhub. It’s really a one stop shop!

      (Hey, when are we supposed get paid for spreading this bologna across blogs and stuff? I haven’t gotten a check yet…)

  7. 8 MP doesn’t allow for “high quality prints in poster size.” You can get high quality out of maybe an 8×10, then everything after that loses resolution, thus fails to be “high quality.” Even a 24 MP camera struggles at, say, movie poster size of 27×40.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 10 years ago

      I can assure you that’s not the case. In the early days of DSLRs, there were billboard ads shot on a 2MP camera. When looking at larger prints, you always need to take into account the normal viewing distance for the size of image. I still have some 30×20-inch prints from a 6MP camera and they look fantastic at normal viewing distance for that size.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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