A Taiwanese analyst speaking about the company which makes most of the lenses for iPhones claims that Apple will be sticking to an 8MP camera in the next-generation iPhone 6s, reports Taipei Times.
Jeff Pu said that the camera specifications of the next-generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone 6S, will stay the same as the current iPhone 6 at 8-megapixels, limiting potential catalysts to push [Apple lens supplier] Largan’s stock price higher in the second half of the year.
Pu’s reasoning–that limited supplies of higher-resolution CMOS sensors have lead Apple to make the decision–seems somewhat spurious for a company renowned for its supply chain management, but the idea isn’t an unreasonable one.
While those who know little about photography may buy on numbers, cramming more megapixels into a small sensor can actually hurt image quality. One of the key reasons the iPhone camera is so good is that Apple uses a relatively large sensor with a low pixel density, an approach which is particularly beneficial in low-light photography. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cameras were ranked joint 1st in the highly-respected DxOMark mobile tests.
You can see a comparison of images from almost every generation of iPhone camera courtesy of the developers behind the Camera+ app, and check out our own test of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cameras here.
Via GforGames
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Honestly, the cameras on all high end smartphones are good enough. Now i think its all overkill for the average user.
Uhh no. If you said that then there shouldn’t ever be innovation or any attempt to better human life.
That’s a feature, if it stays at 8MP. Enough improvements to be made on the lenses, the sensor and the ISP.
MPs arent the issue, shutter speeds and optical zooming are where phones need work.
Plus wider apertures, increased sensitivity, better stabilization, better flashes.
I *personally* think that Apple will go with 15 or 16MP camera sensor, just so the iPhone will be able to record 5K video.
It is hard to imagine how that would be useful for *almost* anyone, but we’ve seen far weirder decisions from Apple in the past.
You dont need 15-16mp to record 4 or 5k… 4k is 3840 x 2160 which is roughly 8.2mp
You do need more than 8.2MP just for 4K video. 4K is 16:9 so you have to add pixels quite some pixels vertically to get 4:3 photos (which is the standard) that have the same width (3840) as 4K video.
There comes a point when cramming more pixels into a camera sensor becomes counterproductive, as the physical size of each pixel on the sensor becomes smaller and each one captures less light. This can result in an image of poorer quality* despite higher resolution than a camera with the same sensor size but fewer pixels. This is a challenge for smartphones since the physical size is limited so you can only fit so big an image sensor inside such a small package. Whether or not 8MP being high enough is debatable though.
Personally I think that if someone was serious about photography, it would be much more practical to go out and buy a dedicated camera rather than a smartphone. Joining the megapixel race for mobile phones just isn’t worth it.
*Quality in terms of image sharpness, clarity of details, and low-light performance
I believe it. I’ll bet Jonny Ive has been restlessly pacing in a perfect circle since the iPhone 6 came out because the camera isn’t flush with the back of the device. You know he’s got Jobs-level obsession with stuff like that.