KGI: Apple’s full iPhone 7 Plus 5.5-inch lineup to adopt dual camera, 3GB of RAM

Contrary to a previous report, KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo now believes Apple’s next-generation 5.5-inch iPhone, likely to be called the iPhone 7 Plus, will have a dual back camera across the whole line. Previously, KGI is quoted as saying only the high end configurations of the iPhone would adopt the new camera technology:

Dual-camera to become a must-have feature for high-end smartphone. The initial market response to Huawei’s (CN) new flagship dual-camera model, P9, has been better than expected, and we estimate shipments may reach 10mn units in 2016F. In our view, more high-end smartphones will adopt this feature going forward. And, in order to maintain its leading position in the high-end market, we expect Apple will fully adopt dual-camera on the new 5.5-inch iPhone in 2H16.

Since KGI says Apple is now opting to bring the new dual-camera technology to all iPhone 7’s with a 5.5-inch display, it also says that means Apple will include 3GB of RAM in all models to meet requirements of the new tech.

And the analyst notes shipments of the dual-camera models from Sony and LG will soon be high enough to sufficiently cover demand of a 5.5-inch iPhone 7: “We estimate total shipments of iPhone dual-camera module from Sony (JP) and LG Innotek (KR-TW) at 20- 30mn units in 2016F, sufficient to cover demand from the new 5.5-inch iPhone. Due to constraints of form factor design, we think optical zoom capability may be limited. Also, the result of Linx algorithm performance is uncertain. As such, we believe market response to the performance of iPhone dual-camera remains to be seen.”

While the dual camera mode has become popular in the Android market with HTC adopting the feature initially for 3D and more recently for other features, and Huawei and LG’s flagships this year gaining momentum, the Apple analyst feels that Apple will need to jump into the deep end here. Some recent examples showed how the tech can combine images from two separate cameras to deliver far sharper zoomed-in images compared to the camera in the iPhone 6s/Plus.

And we recently rounded up everything we know so far for the upcoming iPhone 7 based on the latest rumors and reports — the new dual camera technology included. The latest of the leaks came earlier today when an iPhone 7 factory CAD leaked showing a camera bump, the expected removal of the headphone jack, and possibly a Smart Connector.