Dual-lens camera to remain iPhone Plus exclusive in 2017

Posted:
in iPhone edited June 2020
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.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 40
    Hadn't realized the optical stabilization was limited to the wide angle lens. This seems counterintuitive since the telephoto lens will be far more susceptible to movement.

    ...not that I'd have ordered the smaller phone if I'd known this in advance, of course :)
    jay-tsockrolidbaconstangdoozydozen
  • Reply 2 of 40
    U P S E L L
    SpamSandwichbaconstangcnocbuidoozydozen
  • Reply 3 of 40
    JanNLJanNL Posts: 327member
    Only 2 days after new iPhones and our well-informed/well-connected MCK is bothering his clients with his new predictions...
    mike1stevehdoozydozen
  • Reply 4 of 40
    Typical Apple, always doing stuff incrementally!  But I will buy the iPhone + anyways, inspire of Apple marketing.
  • Reply 5 of 40
    I see little improvements to upgrade my iPhone to 7. I have 6 and and will wait for iPhone 8. I've been screwed by Apple support in the past and will wait. I was a hardcore Apple fan and bought every new phone every year. Never again. I will hold out until I see something worth the money, or switch to another phone from other brands!
    Anahkmygmj web
  • Reply 6 of 40
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Typical Apple, always doing stuff incrementally!
    Right?¡ What assholes they are for not having produced the iPhone 7S Plus in 2007, but instead only gave us incremental updates year-after-year¡
    SpamSandwichnolamacguywatto_cobraapplepieguy
  • Reply 7 of 40
    Netac2015 said:
    I see little improvements to upgrade my iPhone to 7. I have 6 and and will wait for iPhone 8. I've been screwed by Apple support in the past and will wait. I was a hardcore Apple fan and bought every new phone every year. Never again. I will hold out until I see something worth the money, or switch to another phone from other brands!
    Just getting away from 1GB RAM should be worth the jump. 
    jbishop1039sirlance99watto_cobrastanthemandoozydozen
  • Reply 8 of 40
    I wish they had gone (much) wider... One can always zoom in, but if one can't get the shot...
    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...
    baconstangswaldmail
  • Reply 9 of 40
    2x is virtually useless anyways.  Digital zoom can do a decent 2x anyways.  They should have had the courage to do least 3x-4x.  
    baconstangunbeliever2doozydozen
  • Reply 10 of 40
    He is well respected and rarely wrong, but I call BS on this. No FN way.
  • Reply 11 of 40
    timborama said:
    2x is virtually useless anyways.  Digital zoom can do a decent 2x anyways.  They should have had the courage to do least 3x-4x.  
    so now you get 4X (2X optical plus decent 2X digital).  Your point?

    Courage can't change the laws of optics

    SpamSandwichai46mike1nolamacguyzoetmbTurboPGTwatto_cobraapplepieguydoozydozenurahara
  • Reply 12 of 40
    WTF?  Naturally, the larger form factor would become the template for innovation.  More internal space to explore more innovation!  Also, karmically, this is a lower volume form factor, so innovation in this model spurs greater adoption = greater volume = net profit.  

    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.....  




    nolamacguywatto_cobradoozydozen
  • Reply 13 of 40
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    kamilton said:
    Also, karmically, this is a lower volume form factor, so innovation in this model spurs greater adoption = greater volume = net profit. 
    I don't know about karma, but when you're pushing engineering and manufacturing limits, you're going to have a lower-yield of an advanced component-type over a component-type that has had more time to mature in a given environment. For example, I think the ceramic casing used in the, now, high-end Apple Watch Series 2 is a testing ground for many other planned uses for mass produced ceramic products down the road.
    ai46baconstangnolamacguywatto_cobradoozydozen
  • Reply 14 of 40
    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 ...
    The dual-camera setup is only an interim measure.
    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.

    timbit
  • Reply 15 of 40
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    The 4.7" and plus model should have the exact same feature set whenever technically and physically possible. The 7 is the premium phone regardless of the screen size you choose. I'm fine with the dual lens being exclusively in the plus, like OIS was last year if it is because there was just not enough space.
    nolamacguywatto_cobradoozydozen
  • Reply 16 of 40
    I wish they had gone (much) wider... One can always zoom in, but if one can't get the shot...
    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...
    Remarkable, and poorly suited for a lot of user, given the geometric distortion of such a wide lens. Converging vertical and horizontal lines aren't what most people want. Close portraits of their friends could be pretty entertaining, though.

    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.
  • Reply 17 of 40

    Netac2015 said:
    I see little improvements to upgrade my iPhone to 7. I have 6 and and will wait for iPhone 8. I've been screwed by Apple support in the past and will wait. I was a hardcore Apple fan and bought every new phone every year. Never again. I will hold out until I see something worth the money, or switch to another phone from other brands!
    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.
    jkichlinenolamacguywatto_cobradoozydozenurahara
  • Reply 18 of 40
    timborama said:
    2x is virtually useless anyways.  Digital zoom can do a decent 2x anyways.  They should have had the courage to do least 3x-4x.  
    Huh? Nobody in their right mind wants to use digital zoom unless they have to. It is always better to move if you can than zoom, doubly so for digital zoom (which is basically just cropping).
    baconstangnolamacguy
  • Reply 19 of 40
    mike1 said:
    The 4.7" and plus model should have the exact same feature set whenever technically and physically possible. The 7 is the premium phone regardless of the screen size you choose. I'm fine with the dual lens being exclusively in the plus, like OIS was last year if it is because there was just not enough space.
    Well, the camera module is pretty big and there isn't much space in the 4.7, last year we lost battery life because the screen got a bit thicker for 3D touch (that tells you something).
    doozydozen
  • Reply 20 of 40
    sockrolid said:
    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 ...
    The dual-camera setup is only an interim measure.
    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.

    So... Miracle and breaking the laws of physics is in the work?
    zoetmb
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