unknown shooting format, capture button and more

The countdown begins. If everything goes according to rumors, we will meet the iPhone 16 on September 10, very soon. At this point, we think we know almost everything about its design, some of its leaked specs, and in the last few hours, rumors have emerged about the performance of its cameras and related hardware.

A capacitive capture button, new lenses, and an unknown new format. We’re rounding up all the information leaked so far about these devices’ cameras.

AppleInsider’s sources claim that the iPhone 16 camera will see major improvements this year. Base models will retain the dual-camera setup, aligned vertically in this generation to facilitate spatial video recording. Scaling will still be done by 2x cropping the sensor to minimize quality loss.

The second camera will be an ultra-wide-angle, and this generation will swap out the f/2.4 lens for an f/2.2 lens. This will make it a bit brighter, though we don’t expect a huge jump in quality between these models. The base iPhones are also expected to be compatible with the macro feature currently reserved for the Pro variants.

The iPhone 16 Pro is where the most noticeable changes are expected. The main sensor will remain the same: 48 megapixels with an f/1.78 aperture. The iPhone 16 Pro’s telephoto lens will be the 5x tetraprism we saw last year in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, echoing the 16 Pro Max’s configuration.

The ultra-wide camera will have an upgraded 48-megapixel sensor, which will be a major step towards improving one of the iPhone’s most classic weak points.

In addition to these hardware changes, the iPhone 16 Pro is expected to be able to shoot in JPEG-XL, an additional format alongside HEIF, JPEG, JPEG Max, HEIF Max, ProRaw, and ProRAW Max. It is not specified what the difference will be between JPEG Max (48-megapixel JPEG) and JPEG-XL.

“Once in the camera app, it has pressure sensitivity and will communicate with the developer API. This could, for example, lock exposure and focus before you press it all the way down to take a photo.”

But the most striking thing is the new capture button. This has been rumored for months and could affect four iPhone models. It will be in the lower right corner and will be capacitive. It will be used exclusively with camera apps and will not be as customizable as the current action button on the Pro models.

As we always point out, rumors are rumors. Apple has not confirmed — and does not intend to confirm — a single piece of information about the specifications of its iPhone 16. Fortunately, there is less and less information about them in detail.

Image | Hataka

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