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Triple Cameras with 3D SensorThis is not the first time it has been reported that Apple is working on an iPhone with a triple-camera setup. Earlier this month, a report from Taipei Times said that the Cupertino company is working on an iPhone with three 12MP lenses on the back with up to 5x zoom.
Apple will launch at least one new iPhone model with a triple-lens rear camera in 2019, according to Taiwanese website Economic Daily News, citing a research note from Deutsche Securities analyst Jialin Lu. Lu believes the triple-lens camera system will enable advanced 3D sensing via stereoscopic vision, with two of the sensors able to capture images of a single object from different angles. A triangulation method would then be used to obtain the distance between the iPhone and the object.
Like the True Depth system on the front of the iPhone X, the report suggests that the rear 3D sensing will be used for augmented reality purposes. The prediction lines up with a report from Bloomberg's Alex Webb, who last year said future iPhones will be equipped with rear-facing 3D sensing capabilities. Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly expressed his profound interest in augmented reality. Last year, Apple released its ARKit platform, enabling developers to create augmented reality apps for iPhones and iPads on iOS 11. Meanwhile, the third lens would likely have a longer focal length for enhanced zoom capabilities, according to Lu. The long-focus lens would likely enable 3x optical zoom on an iPhone for the first time, enabling users to magnify the image in the viewfinder by up to three times without a blurry reduction in quality like digital zoom. iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models feature 2x optical zoom for comparison.
