Apple may upgrade the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max's cameras with a new anti-lens flare material, according to a claim posted by user yeux1122 on Korean blogging site Naver, which cites "a related company source."
iPhone users will have seen the problem this will hopefully fix any time there are bright dots jumping around in your viewfinder and final photos whenever there's a bright source of light around, spoiling an otherwise flawless shot. Hopefully, this new coating will help address this weakness for both new Pro iPhones, not just one model as the machine-translated post could be interpreted to be talking about.
Apparently the iPhone 16 Pro models (or "Pro model" singular, as the Naver post says), could feature this new coating, which Apple's currently experimenting with to reduce lens flare and improve overall photo quality. The coating is applied with a new atomic layer deposition (ALD) system, which uses reactive gases to apply a super-thin layer of material on top of an existing object.
A big year for camera upgrades
Unsurprisingly for such photo-focused phones, the new Pro iPhones are tipped to be getting more camera upgrades than some new lens coatings. There have been claims of a 48MP ultrawide camera being added to both Pro models, and the introduction of iPhone 15 Pro Max's 5x telephoto camera to the smaller iPhone 16 Pro. That's not to mention the larger displays, bigger batteries and new capture button that the rumor mill is also ramping up about.
You can keep up with the latest rumors on the next iPhone line-up in our iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max news hubs, if this camera rumor whets your appetite for more. We'll be keeping them regularly updated all the way up to launch day, which going by Apple's usual habits, will be mid-September.
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