‘Periscopic’ Telephoto Lens May Debut on the iPhone in 2023: Kuo

After previously reporting that Apple will start equipping its iPhones with a ‘periscope’ telephoto lens by 2022, popular analyst Ming-Chi Kuo now says the technology won’t be featured on an iPhone until 2023 — reports MacRumors.

A periscopic telephoto lens will significantly boost the iPhone’s zoom capabilities, which currently max out at 2.5x optical zoom and 12x digital zoom.

Unsurprisingly, competing smartphones on the market right now — like Samsung’s S20 Ultra and S21 series, as well as Huawei’s P30 Pro and P40 Pro+ — already boast periscopic lenses that allow for up to 100x magnification.

However, as we’ve seen time and again, Apple’s implementations of existing technologies rarely fail to impress.

In addition to periscope telephoto lenses for the iPhone being pushed back to 2023, Kuo also revealed that 2021 iPhones are expected to leverage a new Face ID transmitter made out of plastic instead of glass, although the possible benefits of the switch for the end-user are unclear at this point.

2021 iPhones will also improve on their rear ultra-wide lens, says Kuo.

As for 2022 iPhones, expect an improved (but not periscopic) rear telephoto lens and a new unibody lens design that will reduce the size of front camera module.

2022 might even see Apple ditching the notch it has been holding onto for dear life in favour of a hole punch-style display that the Android ecosystem has been transitioning towards as of late.

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