Apple’s next iPhones insight: Apple’s 12S Pro line of iPhones will reportedly come out later this year with an improved ultra-wide-angle camera, but a new report from famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that all of next year’s iPhones will be equipped with the feature.
Echoing a Trendforce analyst report published last week, Kuo claims that the iPhone 12S Pro and 12S Pro will come with an ultra-wide-angle lens with autofocus. The current ultra-wide-angle cameras on the iPhone 12 Pro models have a fixed focus. This change will provide more flexibility for iPhone photographers and allow for better framing, similar to conventional wide-angle and telephoto lenses. Kuo also confirmed reports that the new ultra-wide-angle camera will feature a six-element lens, allowing it to equal a conventional wide-angle camera.
You won’t have to pay much for Pro if you want to try these upgrades. Kuo says Apple is currently working to roll out these upgrades to all 2022 iPhone models, both Pro and otherwise. Speaking of this year’s iPhone lineup, it is expected to be called the iPhone 12S, due to some cultural superstition around the number 13. If that turns out to be true, it’s unlikely that Apple will suddenly take the iPhone 13 name in 2022, and will likely move on to the iPhone 14. Apple has already taken this approach when transitioning from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone X.
When will the next iPhone models be available? It’s likely to happen around September or October, and a Digitimes report claims that Apple has begun ramping up component orders for the 2021 iPhone. While under normal circumstances this wouldn’t be noticeable, since the company usually does the same in June and July each year in preparation for late summer launches, last year the company faced a delay in launching its iPhones as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This led to a staggered launch, with the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max being released particularly late. Now that the production ramp-up is happening in June, Apple has a better chance of getting its components in time for this year’s September launch.
