iPhone XR sequel might gain twin-lens rear camera in 2019

Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2019
Rumors suggest Apple's iPhone XR follow-up will upgrade to a dual-lens rear camera in 2019, potentially delivering the company's advanced photographic technology to an entry-level smartphone model for the first time.

iPhone XS


As with the iPhone X and XS, one lens would be wide-angle and the other telephoto, Mac Otakara said on Friday, citing information from Chinese suppliers. The current XR has a single wide-angle lens, identical to recent base level iPhone offerings.

Traditionally Apple has used telephoto lenses for two purposes, the first being 2x optical zoom instead of digital enlargement. The second, though, is Portrait Mode photos accomplished in the iOS Camera app -- the telephoto becomes the primary lens, while the wide-angle captures depth data used to isolate the subject and simulate DSLR-style bokeh.

The XR employs specialized algorithms to achieve a similar Portrait effect, but the resulting image is zoomed-out and not necessarily as accurate as its XS counterpart.

Multiple reports have pointed to flagship 5.8- and 6.5-inch "XI" and "XI Max" OLED iPhones coming with a triple-lens camera, the third lens possibly being a super-wide unit. Mac Otakara added that two out of three lenses/sensors may be used as common parts to keep costs down.

Separate design changes may include iPad-style mute switches and the use of 3D-molded rear glass, even covering the phones' larger camera bumps. That same all-glass design is expected with the dual-camera XR successor, which could rely on a familiar 6.1-inch LCD screen, the report said.

It is also possible that the new phones will include USB-C to Lightning cables and 18-watt USB-C power adapters, but keep Lightning as their wired data type.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    At current XR prices this would be great. Just came back from a family celebration. My XS (not max) photos were great. The other smartphones all produced bad pictures, blurry, lacking HDR, splashy back-lit effects, terrible low-light performance. It the camera, not the photographer.

    Apple gets it. Their 'shot on iPhone' ad campaigns drive this home.
    fastasleepcurtis hannahracerhomie3guscat
  • Reply 2 of 26
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    It the camera, not the photographer.
    What about all of the morons who post portrait videos to youtube? These people don't even know which way to hold their phones.

    I'm sure that many of them had good cameras, but in their case, it was the dumb photographer/user which causes the terrible final result.

    And even when taking a still photo, the photographer still has the final say of where their camera is pointing, and how far away it is etc.

    Even with a great camera, a bad or clueless user with no artistic abilities will take poor photos, and many people lack artistic abilities.


    DAalsethmacplusplus
  • Reply 3 of 26
    Personally I don't think it is necessary but I would be interested to know how many with X/XS actually use their telephoto lens given its only 2x zoom.
  • Reply 4 of 26
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,694member
    At current XR prices this would be great. Just came back from a family celebration. My XS (not max) photos were great. The other smartphones all produced bad pictures, blurry, lacking HDR, splashy back-lit effects, terrible low-light performance. It the camera, not the photographer.

    Apple gets it. Their 'shot on iPhone' ad campaigns drive this home.
    An updated XR with dual-lens rear camera, A13, 4GB RAM at current prices would make for a great value
  • Reply 5 of 26
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    XR with dual back camera, WiFi 6, A13, better antenna is more than worth upgrading to.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    AI_liasAI_lias Posts: 434member
    wood1208 said:
    XR with dual back camera, WiFi 6, A13, better antenna is more than worth upgrading to.
    Add a 1080 display, also.
    Fatmandoozydozenraybo
  • Reply 7 of 26
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    Personally I don't think it is necessary but I would be interested to know how many with X/XS actually use their telephoto lens given its only 2x zoom.
    Uhh, I watch people zoom in on stuff when taking photos *all the time*. You really don't zoom in on things?
  • Reply 8 of 26
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member

    AI_lias said:
    wood1208 said:
    XR with dual back camera, WiFi 6, A13, better antenna is more than worth upgrading to.
    Add a 1080 display, also.
    Why are people so fixated on a TV-centric resolution like 1080p?
    curtis hannahdangermouse2macplusplus
  • Reply 9 of 26
    Johan42Johan42 Posts: 163member
    Why wasn’t the XR given a dual camera initially? Oh, wait...trivially incremental upgrades to make massive profits. Never mind.
    avon b7doozydozen
  • Reply 10 of 26
    Rumors suggest Apple's iPhone XR follow-up will upgrade to a dual-lens camera...

    It is also possible that the new phones will include USB-C to Lightning cables and 18-watt USB-C power adapters, but keep Lightning as their wired data type.

    So each iteration of the XR might have the top models cameras-1, this could be a good setup still having good cameras on all the models.

    As for the usb cord, it seems like they are going to keep this same setup as long as the iPhone has a lightning port. If they are going to do fast charging USB C, I see no reason that couldn’t have been done with the X or the XS. I’m expecting they have no desire to switch cord setup at this point.

  • Reply 11 of 26
    FatmanFatman Posts: 513member
    1080 (unobstructed by notch) would clinch it. Fastasleep - The reason you would want native 1080 resolution is because it’s a very common video resolution standard. If you watch a 1080 video (movie, YouTube, TV broadcast stream) on a phone with less than 1080 capability, it will scale or crop it - both are not desirable and sacrifice quality. Scaling uses more CPU cycles and power. Cropping it will cause a loss of video content. 
    edited April 2019 muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 12 of 26
    With phones getting "as big as they can be", "fast enough for the usual tasks", etc  the next function (other than battery life) that customers want to see improve is the camera.  I know some of you wouldn't like the comparison to Huawei, but they have shown they are able to make big improvements in this area.

    I myself is happy to be using the iPhone, for the reason that I use the Mac, Apple Watch, iPad, AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Music.. to remain in this ecosystem. But I know of many iPhone users who are very attracted to Huawei's camera, and is entirely comfortable to move away from iOS, given that they use a Windows laptop and do not own and not intend to buy an Apple Watch or AirPods. In short, they got "nothing much to loose" to move away from the iOS/Mac ecosystem. 

    And therefore, I think Apple really needs to improve the camera to be at least on par with the rest. 
    edited April 2019 mike54avon b7
  • Reply 13 of 26
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    AI_lias said:
    wood1208 said:
    XR with dual back camera, WiFi 6, A13, better antenna is more than worth upgrading to.
    Add a 1080 display, also.
    No. Current display is fantastic.
    SoliMplsPguscat
  • Reply 14 of 26
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    chinnian said:
    And therefore, I think Apple really needs to improve the camera to be at least on par with the rest. 
    The Xs camera is on par with the rest. The reviews I've seen have been pretty split on which camera is 'the best,' but after reading several, my take is that no one can complain about the camera in the Xs or the Pixel or the Galaxy S10.

    The current Xr is probably the best value in the iPhone lineup; the main differences are the camera, the screen, no force touch and less RAM. Force touch is not used by many people. I've compared the screens side by side and even then you're hard pressed to notice a difference, and the RAM doesn't make a noticeable difference for most people in daily use. That leaves the camera as only significant difference between the two. I'm guessing Apple did not include a dual lens camera in the Xr so it wouldn't cannibalize sales of the Xs, but if the Xs gets an updated camera then it would make sense to update the Xr's camera as well. 
    edited April 2019 guscatcanukstorm
  • Reply 15 of 26
    guscatguscat Posts: 59member
    Personally I don't think it is necessary but I would be interested to know how many with X/XS actually use their telephoto lens given its only 2x zoom.
    Speaking as a X owner, I use mine a lot, which is the main drawback the XR has for me.
  • Reply 16 of 26
    guscatguscat Posts: 59member

    MplsP said:
    chinnian said:
    And therefore, I think Apple really needs to improve the camera to be at least on par with the rest. 
    The Xs camera is on par with the rest. The reviews I've seen have been pretty split on which camera is 'the best,' but after reading several, my take is that no one can complain about the camera in the Xs or the Pixel or the Galaxy S10.

    The current Xr is probably the best value in the iPhone lineup; the main differences are the camera, the screen, no force touch and less RAM. Force touch is not used by many people. I've compared the screens side by side and even then you're hard pressed to notice a difference, and the RAM doesn't make a noticeable difference for most people in daily use. That leaves the camera as only significant difference between the two. I'm guessing Apple did not include a dual lens camera in the Xr so it wouldn't cannibalize sales of the Xs, but if the Xs gets an updated camera then it would make sense to update the Xr's camera as well. 
    I would agree with all of this. In fact, I would go so far as to say the camera differences among the top smartphones are seriously overrated. I don't see where the photos I take with my X are that much better than the ones I took with my 7+ or even my 6. It's not like the old days when there was a noticeable difference between an iPhone 4 photo and an iPhone 5. There are clearly circumstances where some phone cameras are better than others, but I would say for most people under most circumstances if you picked the worst major flagship camera you'd still have a very good camera. 

    I own a X, and i have lots of friends with XRs. Their screens look, at least casually, every bit as good as mine with their screens being larger. I agree the camera is the big shortcoming for me on the XR, but on the flip side the XR has by far the best battery life of any iPhone I've heard of. This is something all of my XR friends confirm. If it wasn't for the camera setup, I'd rather have a XR than a X even if they they were the same price just for the battery life alone
  • Reply 17 of 26
    schlackschlack Posts: 719member
    Still rocking my iPhone 7 (2.6 years old). Although I’ve historically upgraded every 2 years, I’ve got no plans to upgrade until Apple releases a phone same size or smaller than my 7 with at least 128GB for $750 or less (this was MSRP on my iPhone 7 with the same memory). 
  • Reply 18 of 26
    schlackschlack Posts: 719member
    Still rocking my iPhone 7 (2.6 years old). Although I’ve historically upgraded every 2 years, I’ve got no plans to upgrade until Apple releases a phone same size or smaller than my 7 with at least 128GB for $750 or less (this was MSRP on my iPhone 7 with the same memory). 
  • Reply 19 of 26
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Well, I was leaning toward the XS, but if they add the second camera, for $500CDN less I’ll go with the XR. The, rumoured, wide angle third camera on the XI is something I just would not use. 
  • Reply 20 of 26
    macplusplusmacplusplus Posts: 2,112member
    deleted
    edited April 2019
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