The
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra are both
great camera smartphones in their own right, but what sets the latter apart is its impressive zooming capabilities and if recent rumors and newly surfaced images are any indications, the forthcoming
iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will continue to lag behind Samsung’s powerful S series flagship in this area.
The
iPhone 14 range will likely be announced in a couple of months, September 13 to be exact. Rumors and leaked renders and dummy units suggest the Pro models will swap out the 12MP main camera for a
bigger 48MP sensor but will likely have the same resolution
12MP ultrawide and 12MP telephoto sensors as their predecessors.
Apple is seemingly working on a periscope telephoto camera that will enable zooming capabilities up to 6x, but that unit will likely be introduced next year with the
iPhone 15 Pro. The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, on the other hand, will allegedly continue offering 3x optical zoom and possibly 15x digital zoom.
This has been further confirmed by well-known leaker
Digital Chat Station, who has shared images that depict the 6.1-inches iPhone 14 and 6.7-inches iPhone 14 Max’s, and the 6.1-inches iPhone 14 Pro and 6.7-inches iPhone 14 Pro Max’s camera setups.
The regular models will feature a dual camera setup and are not expected to get the new 48MP sensor. The Pros don’t seem to have a rectangular unit, which is what sets a periscope unit apart from a normal telephoto lens.
For reference, the S22 Ultra has a 10x periscope unit that is capable of 100x digital zoom. It’s so good (from a technical viewpoint) that it lets you view stuff that you otherwise may have not been able to see, such as
two strangers getting married.
Of course, there is more to a smartphone camera than its zooming capabilities, and at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preferences.
The iPhone 14 family is also rumored to feature an
improved selfie camera. The Pros will reportedly flaunt a
new front design with pill-shaped and pinhole cutouts as well as the new A16 Bionic chip, whereas the standard models will likely be more of incremental upgrades, though they will still apparently be
more expensive than their 2021 counterparts.