Last year, Apple bought an Israeli camera technology company called LinX Imaging. It spent $20 million for the trade — a trifle by Apple’s standards. However, the implications of this technology are far from being a trifle.
LinX specializes in creating multi-aperture camera equipment for mobile devices. Meaning that they make phone cameras that have multiple lenses. Add that to the report that Largan Tech has sent dual-lens camera test samples to Apple and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that we might see a dual lens camera in the upcoming iPhone 7!
Taiwan-based Largan Technology is the largest supplier of iPhone cameras to Apple, counting for over 60% of the supply. However, competition is stiff since Apple has asked for samples from suppliers in Japan and China as well.
It’s also possible that we might see the standard camera on the iPhone 7 and the dual-lens option on the bigger iPhone 7. It is here that the advanced algorithm based image matching technology that Apple got when they bought LinX will prove useful.
Sony has gone on record and said that “major smartphone players” will be opting for dual lens cameras this year. Surely then Apple wouldn’t want to be left behind. Besides we’d really hate it if everyone else had a dual lens camera and iPhone 7 didn’t!
Some other developments:
The two most common complaints against iPhone 6 were the ugly antenna lines on the back and the protruding camera that made the phone wobble when placed face-up on the table.
Apple is expected to fix both these issues, especially the protruding camera. This might be more of a challenge because the iPhones are getting thinner and thinner by the year. We’ve already written about how this ‘weight loss’ is most likely to get the 3.5mm audio jack dumped. What will it do to the camera? We dare not imagine!
There’s a limit to how thin Apple can make the phone. Physical reasons like sturdiness aside, technology also demands physical space. For example, the 3-D Touch feature needs a minimum thickness to work on. But then there’s talk of Apple developing gesture-based products, thereby eliminating the need for touch altogether! There’s also talk of a 256 GB model and the possible inclusion of Li-Fi technology.
It’s going to be a few months of heavy rumour-mongering leading up to the September event when Apple announces the next iPhone. All your questions will be answered then. Till that time, you can count on us to bring you up to date on the latest news.
