Skip to main content

The iPhone 16 could wow us with a surprise camera upgrade

Shooting Apple ProRES Log video on iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

It seems Apple is finally ready to play the megapixels game. After serving 12-megapixel camera arrays on its smartphones for a healthy few generations, Apple finally put a 48MP sensor on the iPhone 14 Pro pair. A year later, the entire iPhone 15 series got the same treatment.

According to industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, that momentum will continue with the iPhone 16 series. In an investor note, Kuo claims that the iPhone 16 Pro duo will get a new 48MP ultrawide-angle camera sensor — a big jump from the 12MP wide-angle snapper on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro.

Recommended Videos

In addition to a higher megapixel count, the sensor size will also be bigger, which is great news. The pixel size, however, has been shrunk from 1 micron on the iPhone 15 Pro’s 12MP sensor to 0.7-micron on the iPhone 16 Pro’s 48MP ultrawide unit.

Close-up of the cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

But that’s not necessarily bad news. Camera sensors of such high resolution rely on a technique called “pixel binning.” This tech essentially combines adjacent pixels to create an artificial super pixel, one that collects and processes more light data, thereby producing more detailed images.

Depending on the sensor resolution, it can take many forms. In the case of 48MP sensors, it follows a 4-in-1 format where a 2×2 array of adjacent pixels is combined to create a larger super pixel. In doing so, the sensor size is effectively doubled, to 1.4-microns in the iPhone 16 Pro’s case.

The resulting image turns out to be 12MP in resolution. but contains less noise and better colors than what a native 12MP sensor can deliver. Another advantage of pixel binning is that it delivers noticeably better results in lowlight situations.

The biggest advantage of upgrading to a 48MP ultrawide camera, aside from the boost in raw quality, is that there will now be little disparity in the quality of images achieved from the main and ultrawide cameras on the iPhone 16 Pro.

It’s a meaningful upgrade and a big one for iPhone loyalists, especially considering the conservative approach Apple takes toward hardware innovation. The move also brings Apple closer to the competition in the Android segment, where rival smartphone makers are either picking 48MP or 50MP sensors for ultrawide photography.

iPhone 15 Pro in Natural Titanium held in hand in front of a wooden gate.
Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

However, Apple is still yet to catch up with the competition in the numbers game. The likes of Samsung and Xiaomi have armed their phones with 108MP and 200MP cameras, which either perform 9-in-1 pixel binning or apply the pixel combination formula twice to achieve a smaller, but higher-quality image.

Down the road, Kuo claims that Apple will shift to a 24MP front camera, starting with the iPhone 17 series. This would be another major shift for Apple after years of sticking to a 12MP TrueDepth camera system on iPhones.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
I love this new iPhone camera feature. Here’s why I’ll never use it
The header image for the OuttaFocus column.

Ever since Apple introduced its Photographic Styles, I’ve mostly stuck to the Standard filter and then edited my pictures in the Photos app later if I wanted. With iOS 18, Apple added the ability to change Photographic Styles after taking a photo, and I decided it was time to experiment and play around with different Styles.

I quickly discovered I’d been missing out, but also why I'm never likely to use the feature again.
A frustrating choice

Read more
Apple quietly nixed this Apple Intelligence feature from iOS 18.2
Image Playground on iPad.

One of the most highly anticipated features of Apple Intelligence, Image Playground, has finally launched in the iOS 18.2 developer and public betas. This artificial intelligence tool, announced in June, enables users to create cartoon-like images from text descriptions. Unfortunately, at least in the beta version, one of Image Playground's announced features is missing.

As first noted on X (formerly Twitter) by @nicolas09f9 (via MacRumors), Image Playground was once expected to feature three design styles: Animation, Illustration, and Sketch. For whatever reason, the latter isn't a choice in the beta.

Read more
The iPhone 18 Pro may get a camera feature never before seen on the iPhone
A close-up of the cameras on the iPhone 16 Pro.

Our iPhones are our primary devices to check the latest news, connect with friends on social media, and capture important memories through photos.

A significant camera upgrade is anticipated for the iPhone Pro series; however, this enhancement will not be available on the current iPhone 16 Pro or the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro series. Instead, the iPhone 18 Pro models are expected to introduce a main rear camera with a variable aperture for the first time. This information comes from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who shared the details on Medium.

Read more