The iPhone 14 will feature a more expensive "high-end" front-facing camera with autofocus, partly made in South Korea for the first time, ET News reports.
Apple reportedly ousted a Chinese candidate to choose LG Innotek, a South Korean company, to supply the iPhone 14's front-facing camera alongside Japan's Sharp. The company is said to have originally planned to switch to LG for the iPhone 15's front-facing camera, but moved the plan forward to this year.
The change is said to be down to Apple reclassifying the front-facing camera as a "high-end" component and quality concerns with Chinese suppliers. The new front-facing camera is said to cost almost three times more than camera units in previous iPhone models.
The report echoed a previous rumor from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that claimed the iPhone 14's front-facing camera would support autofocus for the first time. Kuo said that all four of the iPhone 14 models, including the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, will feature an upgraded front-facing camera with autofocus and a wider ƒ/1.9 aperture.
A wider aperture would allow more light to pass through the lens and reach the front camera's sensor on the iPhone 14 models, resulting in enhanced image quality. Kuo said these camera upgrades could provide a better depth-of-field effect for Portrait mode photos and videos, while autofocus can improve focus during FaceTime and Zoom video calls. By comparison, the front camera on all of the iPhone 13 models has a fixed focus and a smaller ƒ/2.2 aperture.
LG Innotek is now said to be preparing for mass production of the iPhone 14's front camera ahead of the device's release in September.
