The iPhone 13 is now more likely to feature an updated Ultra Wide camera with significantly better performance in low light, thanks to improved lens verification and increased competition in Apple’s camera supply chain, according to the Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo.
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In his last note to the TFI Securities investor, seen by MacRumors, Kuo says checking the iPad 5P lens from Chinese supplier Sunny Optical went well and learned a lot from the process, which means that the probability of sending a 7P wide-angle lens to the iPhone 13 in the second half of 2021 has increased significantly.
Kuo expects Sunny to begin mass shipments of its iPad 5P lens in the middle of the first quarter of 2021, supplying Apple with about 15% of these parts due to limited initial production capacity. It is not specified in the report which model iPad the 5P lens is intended for, but the proportion of shipment for the 5P and 7P lenses is expected to increase further to between 15-20% and 25-30% in 2022.
According to Kuo, Sunny Optical’s biggest competition will also put pressure on Largan, which is currently generating a price war due to its significant technological advantages over other iPhone lens suppliers.
In November, Kuo predicted that the Ultra Wide cameras on the two high-end iPhone 13 models will be significantly upgraded to f / 1.8, 6P (six-element lens) with auto focus. All current PiPhone 12 models are equipped with Ultra Wide f / 2.4, 5P (five-element lens) cameras with fixed focus.
However, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Thomas O’Malley have since suggested that all four iPhone 13 models will feature an updated Ultra Wide camera lens with an aperture greater than ƒ / 1.8, so there is conflicting information on exactly how many models will get the lens improvement. Kuo expects the updated Ultra Wide lens to expand to the rest of the iPhone product line in the second half of 2022.