iPhone 15 camera upgrades — here’s what we expect

One of the key things that everybody loves about an iPhone is its camera system. Ever since the iPhone 4, it’s become a point of focus for Apple’s big announcements.

The iPhone 15 and 15 Pro look set to take another impressive leap forward in photography and videography. Here is what we expect to see at the big September keynote.

The standard iPhone 15 takes it up to 48 Megapixels

This is probably the most surprising rumor coming out about iPhone 15 cameras. You see, for all intents and purposes, the standard 15 and 15 Plus look set to be very minor upgrades. Sure, we may see a Dynamic Island on them, but the update seems to be quite a boring one.

However, we may see that the 12MP main sensor takes a huge leap up to 48MP. This higher resolution will no longer be limited just to the Pro iPhones. With pixel binning, we’ve seen far sharper imagery from the current sensor on the likes of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Hopefully Apple can fix some of the software photography issues too.

An upgraded main sensor for the larger iPhone 15 Pro?

This rumor has been popping up a little more recently. Currently, the 48MP sensor on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro max is the Sony IMX803 — a respectable snapper. But as reported by Phone Arena, the 15 Pro and Pro Max could be getting a huge upgrade to a 1-inch IMX903 sensor from Sony.

Now, I’ve made my feelings clear about the 1-inch sensor false advertising. You’re not actually getting a sensor that’s one inch in size, but that doesn’t mean these bigger shooters don’t produce better photos. They capture far more light and provide vastly improved levels of detail.

iPhone 15 Pro Max packs a periscope

One place where the Pro iPhones have been letting themselves down a little is in the telephoto department. It’s a nice-to-have lens for maybe grabbing a quick snap of your kids playing soccer, but for any real zoom photography, the results aren’t great.

It seems like Apple’s got the memo, as we are expecting to see a new periscope lens in the 15 Pro Max. That would mean a potential variable optical zoom of up to 6X — rather than a 3X fixed zoom with up to 10X digital of old. Photos will be a lot crispier because of it!

Outlook

These upcoming camera upgrades look mighty interesting. The sensor upgrade in the standard iPhone may be the cherry on top of what seems to be a sundae of minor upgrades. But it’s the Pro Max that seems to be getting all the special treatment this year.

Whether these are true or not (we are just dealing with rumors and potential leaks here), we will know for sure come the September event — where we are also expecting to see the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and maybe even an updated iPad Mini.