iPhone 16, 17, 18 and 19 camera specifications revealed by Kuo

Apple is yet to release the iPhone 16 series and now we possibly have new information about iPhone 17, 18, and 19 including their tentraprism camera specs.

Supply Chain Analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo has shared a new component forecast for upcoming iPhones through 2027. This information focuses on tetraprism supply and camera details.

Apple started using a tetraprism zoom lens with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and will double its purchase by expanding it to the iPhone 16 Pro model.

Crystal-Optech will be the primary supplier of prisms and will increase its profit over the next two years. Kuo also confirmed that the company is keen on using glass prism amid rumors of switching to plastic.

The tetraprism camera penetration for the iPhone 16 series will increase to 60-65% compared to 30-40% in the iPhone 15 series. The new shipment will add up to 160% year-over-year growth in tetraprism camera sales this year. Furthermore, Crystal-Optech’s revenue and profit will surge to 80% in 2024 up from 70-75% in 2023.

iPhone 17 and 18: 2025 and 2026

iPhone 17 series will released in the second half of 2024 and it will upgrade the zoom camera sensor from 1/3.1-inch 12MP CIS to 1/2.6-inch 48MP CIS in iPhone 17 Pro Max or maybe iPhone 17 Slim.

However, there’s no confirmation whether the company will also optimize the tetraprims for this device. Meanwhile, most of these specs from iPhone 17 Zoom are likely to remain the same in iPhone 18. Upgrades in tetraprism require a new prism design. That includes a short form factor for the prism to reduce camera height.

iPhone 19:

This lineup will upgrade tetraprism over iPhone 17 and iPhone 18. It will greatly impact zoom capacity to cover more distance. To do so, the company could increase the number of prisms to increase the light path’s length. It will be a complex design achievement to gain more momentum in the zoom quality for this specific model.

That’s a lot of information and suggests that Apple is seriously working on a telephoto camera for the next-gen iPhones.