Dual-lens camera to remain iPhone Plus exclusive in 2017
Apple is predicted to keep the dual-camera setup debuted this week with iPhone 7 Plus an exclusive to 5.5-inch versions of its smartphone lineup in 2017, according to well-informed KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Ming-Chi Kuo in an investor note obtained by AppleInsider on Friday said that due to application, cost and product segmentation strategy, only high-end iPhone models -- read 5.5-inch Plus versions -- will be equipped with the dual-camera system next year. That translates to roughly 30 to 40 percent of all iPhone shipments in 2017, the analyst says.
"While an attractive addition for avid picture takers and professional photographers, the iPhone 7 Plus dual-camera is not a mass-market killer application yet," Kuo says. "Along with its high cost (estimated at over US$30-40) and the necessity for Apple to enhance the added value of high-end iPhone models, we expect only high-end new iPhone models (30-40% of them) to have a dual-camera next year."
The limitation runs counter to industry insider predictions that Apple will include dual-camera technology across its 2017 iPhone lineup, Kuo says. Since Apple moved to a two-tier hardware strategy with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, advanced technology often debuts on the 5.5-inch model and trickles down to the 4.7-inch version in a later generation. For example, optical image stabilization introduced with iPhone 6 Plus in 2014 is only now making its way into the 4.7-inch iPhone 7.
Interestingly, Kuo says the dual-camera array in iPhone 7 Plus only features one OIS module on the wide angle camera side, leaving the telephoto unit with a regular, voice coil motor. Apple is most likely cutting costs by deploying the same OIS-stabilized module in both iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, adding a non-stabilized telephoto lenser to the latter. Come next year, however, Kuo believes Apple will outfit both modules with OIS VCMs.
Apple introduced its first dual-camera iPhone solution at a special event on Wednesday. Using two separate 12-megapixel modules and specialized image processing software, iPhone 7 Plus provides users with a seamless optical zoom experience that offers better image quality than digital zoom technology.
Comments
...not that I'd have ordered the smaller phone if I'd known this in advance, of course
Apparently the wide is 28mm equivalent (35mm) while I'd most appreciate a 24mm or better, 21mm equivalent...
Building wide angle in such tiny glass may in fact be an impossible challenge,
and yet a tack sharp 21mm ultra wide f2 or better prime would be just so remarkable...
Courage can't change the laws of optics
I'm delighted with this strategy. Making iPhone 7 Plus the platform for new, value added tech is practical, effective and profitable, is in keeping with Apple's DNA, illustrating that Steve's influence continues. As if we'd doubt that so soon.
To me, being an observer of Apple's strategy for 25 years, this is great and should continue. I think things are just about to get interesting.....
Eventually there will be a single optical zoom lens that can do it all yet still fit in an iPhone.
And, along with that, I'm hoping that the "camera bump" will disappear.
Yeah, extreme wide angle lenses are great for some subjects, but they take a bit of care and forethought to get the most out of them. The 28mm was long seen as the cutoff between normal-looking results and obvious wide-angle effects.
For them as knows how to use extreme wide angle lenses, there are some add-ons available that extend the useful range of iPhone cameras, some are pretty poor, some are very good.
Nice try.
If you had put one or two more sentences in your post (about how much you used to like Apple before they totally destroyed your life) it would have been a textbook "concern troll." Seriously. Whoever paid you to post that almost got their money's worth. What is it now? 10 cents per post? 20 cents maybe?
Anyway, I'm sure we'll see quite a few posts like yours here.
Especially after that Samsung Galaxy Note 7 dumpster fire "heated up the competition."
Fight fire with fire. Or something like that.