iPhone 16 Pro Rumored to Feature 48MP Ultra Wide Camera

The iPhone 16 Pro could feature an upgraded Ultra Wide camera with a 48-megapixel sensor, according to a Weibo leaker.

iphone 11 pro ultra wide
The rumor comes from Weibo user "Instant Digital" and suggests that 2024's ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models will be the first to feature more than one 48-megapixel sensor, leaving the Telephoto camera as the only rear-facing lens with a 12-megapixel resolution. The Ultra Wide camera's upgrade to a 48-megapixel sensor should allow it to capture more light, resulting in enhanced photos when shooting in 0.5× mode, especially in low-light environments.

The iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15, and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models already have a 48-megapixel Main camera that uses "pixel binning" to merge data from four pixels on the sensor into one "super pixel" for improved low-light capture. With the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models, this technology is expected to expand to the Ultra Wide lens, which is currently a 12-megapixel lens.

This also means that ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models should be able to shoot 48-megapixel ProRAW photos in Ultra Wide mode. These photos retain more detail in the image file for more editing flexibility, and can be printed at large sizes.

The Weibo rumor corroborates a forecast from Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu, which said that the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ will feature a 48-megapixel Ultra Wide camera and support for Wi-Fi 7. In 2025, the iPhone 17 Pro is expected to complete the rear camera array's transition to 48-megapixel sensors, bringing the technology to the Telephoto lens.

Instant Digital has a mixed track record in terms of revealing accurate information about Apple's plans. The source was first to report the ‌iPhone‌ 14's Yellow spring refresh, Spatial Video on the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro, and the Apple Watch Series 9's minor hardware update, as well as being the only source of the only rumor claiming that the ‌iPhone 15‌ and ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus would feature frosted back glass. However, they also made claims about several iOS 17 features and the release of a new iPad Air in October 2023 that did not pan out.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16 Pro
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Top Rated Comments

s_muxiu Avatar
20 months ago
just wanna 48Mp Telephoto camera
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aluminum213 Avatar
20 months ago
*throws iPhone 15 pro max in the garbage*
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swiftapplefan Avatar
20 months ago
Happy to see this, let’s hope that the sensor also gets bigger, so that the photos will be actually usable most of the time
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MudPipes Avatar
20 months ago
I have a theory the 48MP ultra wide upgrade is going to be a key feature for spatial video. Cropped to 1X to match same focal length as main camera at 1X. Does that make sense?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swiftapplefan Avatar
20 months ago
Yay! So that means high-quality digital zoom on the 0.5x camera!


…wait
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H.E. Pennypacker Avatar
20 months ago
Can we please look at some better improvements to the iPhone outside of the camera year after year. Is anyone complaining about photo quality still? How about some friggin innovation for goodness sake!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)