The iPhone 16 series is expected to be unveiled at Apple's “It's Glowtime” event on September 9. The lineup is expected to include base iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max variants. Rumors about the phones have surfaced online over the past few weeks, suggesting design elements and expected specs. A new report suggests some camera features that the iPhone 16 Pro phones could launch with, including video recording improvements.
iPhone 16 Series Camera Specs (Expected)
According to 9to5Mac, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max smartphones could feature 48-megapixel rear camera sensors with ultra-wide-angle lenses. reportBoth phones also support a tetraprism lens with 5x optical zoom, while the existing iPhone 15 series only has such a lens on the Pro Max model.
The report also suggests that the Pro versions of the iPhone 16 series may also support 4K video recording at 120 frames per second (fps). Users will likely be able to record ProRes 4K at 120 fps when connected to external storage. It is unclear whether this feature will be available on all camera phones.
By comparison, the iPhone 15 supports 4K recording at 60 frames per second. QuickTake recordings on these devices can also support 4K resolution, which could be an improvement over the current 1080p support.
It is noteworthy that Android smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6And Vivo X100 Ultra Currently supports 4K video recording at 120 fps.
Apple has reportedly tested 8K video recording on the wide and ultra-wide lenses of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The alleged 48-megapixel sensors, as well as the A18 Pro chipsets, are expected to support this resolution quality. However, the report notes that 8K recording could be introduced in the iPhone 17 lineup.
The report also suggests that the iPhone 16 series of smartphones may launch with support for the JPEG-XL format. The camera app may also pause and resume the video recording function, remove wind noise in videos, introduce new photo styles with improved machine learning to preserve skin tones, and introduce new spatial photography modes for 3D viewing on Apple Vision Pro.
The report also suggests that the alleged camera button on the iPhone 16 phones could work with third-party apps alongside the native camera app. The touch-sensitive button is expected to allow control over multiple cameras. A light press could activate autofocus, while a firm press would take photos or start video recording. Meanwhile, swiping motions could be used to adjust exposure or zoom levels.