Apple iPhone 16 Pro's Gigantic Camera May Beat the Galaxy S24 Ultra

Apple has always introduced consistent modest camera improvements to its new iPhones each year. It is expected for this year’s iPhone 16 line to continue with new camera updates, in particular for the Pro duo, which is now rumored to feature an ever larger main sensor in addition to a new ultra-wide shooter.

Possible upgrades for Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro camera

Prolific tipster Digital Chat Station has shared interesting details about the camera setup on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The source explained that Apple is retaining the 48 MP resolution in the primary rear camera. However, the sensor size is said to be increased to 1/1.14-inch, making it significantly wider than the current 1/1.28-inch sensor and bigger than Samsung’s 1/1.3-inch sensor in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The source also provided further details about the upcoming 48 MP ultra-wide angle camera that will replace the 12 MP ultra-wide on the iPhone 15 Pro. The new sensor will measure 1/2.6-inch, which is a notable jump from the 1/3.6-inch area of the current ultra-wide snapper. Compared to the other premium camera phones, Apple will be close to matching the sensors on the likes of Xiaomi’s 13 Ultra and the dated Sony Xperia Pro-I.

While we are yet to see how these sensors are going to fare in real-life situations, a larger sensor also means that the pixel size is increased, resulting in more light captured in the process. The resulting images or videos should be brighter and sharper. A larger camera sensor will also help enhance low-light shots. On the other hand, the new cameras should also boost the spatial video recording in the iPhone 16 Pro, which was introduced to the iPhone 15 Pro last year. Apart from the wide and ultra-wide cameras, the telephoto camera on the iPhone 16 Pro might not receive any sensor upgrade. However, the smaller iPhone 16 Pro could share the same 5x zoom level using tetraprism optics as the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are said to feature a bigger chassis and display, respectively. The revised footprint should help house these enlarged camera modules, although the weight of the two models remain almost unchanged. Concerning its specifications, the iPhone 16 could be equipped with a custom A18 chip while a more capable A18 Pro should find its way to the iPhone 16 Pro. It’s unclear if these new chips will offer some sort of imaging improvements along the way, such as infused AI within these cameras similar to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.