Apple’s rumored camera sensor gives me more hope for future iPhones

I’m something of a snob when it comes to smartphone cameras. Not as much as some people, perhaps — the best camera is the one you have with you — but nevertheless, I’ve done enough pro photography work that the flaws in phone cameras bother me. I had some tolerance for noise, blur, and lens flares when smartphones were newer and cheaper, but if I’m going to pay upwards of $1,000 for something like the iPhone 16 Pro, I expect quality images in most situations — something I can share without friends wondering how I ever got paid as a photographer.

It’s no secret that I’ve been a little disappointed with the telephoto camera on the iPhone 16 Pro, which only seems to deliver under ideal lighting. That’s why a recent rumor about Apple’s plans caught my attention — if it comes to fruition, it may not just radically improve iPhone cameras, but also push the entire industry forward. In a few years, pro cameras might finally live up to their namesake as something only pros need to bother with.

The scoop on Apple’s rumored camera upgrade

Solving the sensitivity issue?

In June 2025, Apple filed for a US patent (PDF) called “Image Sensor With Stacked Pixels Having High Dynamic Range And Low Noise.” Normally, that might not capture much attention — while Apple has never built its own camera sensors before, it regularly files patents on concepts that never come to market. It’s exploring possibilities all the time, and it’s ready to stake its ground so competitors can’t beat it to the punch.

People were quick to point out, however, that Apple’s sensor could provide up to 20 stops of dynamic range. For a primer, think of a stop as a full “click” forward or backward when it comes to aperture or shutter speed. The next stop up from an f/5.6 aperture is f/4, for example, and the next stop after a 1/500 shutter speed is 1/250. Half- and third-stops are sometimes used, but you often need to travel a full stop to make a meaningful difference in light exposure, and in the case of aperture, depth-of-field as well.

20 stops is well beyond the 10 to 12 stops or so most phone cameras are capable of. In fact, that’s also beyond many professional cameras, such as the 17 stops of the Arri Alexa 35, one of the most popular cinema models. By some metrics, Apple’s patent describes a range closer to the human eye. All this is possible because of Apple’s particular Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor, or LOFIC, allowing each pixel to store varying amounts of light depending on how bright a scene is. Pixels also get their own memory circuits, which help to cancel out heat-generated noise.

Just recently, a Weibo leaker known as Fixed Focus Digital claimed that Apple has actually developed the patented sensor, and may be testing it in experimental hardware. That hints at an interest in a commercial product, which makes sense — while Apple has done well enough using Sony camera sensors, it prefers to use its own chip designs whenever possible. That enables more optimization, or at least more control from a business perspective. The company is even building its own cellular modems now, the first of which appeared in the iPhone 16e.

How Apple’s sensor could change iPhones – and when

It’s time to be a little patient

For one, issues with low-light photo and video could become largely irrelevant. You still wouldn’t be able to shoot in a pitch-black room, and a moonlit forest might give you trouble, but the sort of noise and blur you see in a lot of restaurant and nightclub shots would disappear. You’d also be less likely to be kicked into iOS’s long-exposure mode, which forces you to wait a few seconds while the camera captures more light. That can be a lifesaver, but only with completely static subjects.

As you’d guess, I’m most excited about Apple applying this tech to telephoto cameras. I’m almost always shooting in the 2x to 5x range on my iPhone, and the further I zoom in, the more likely it is I’m going to encounter blur from camera shake, even with Apple’s optical image stabilization. Improved light sensitivity means a better chance at eliminating blur when lighting is less than perfect. Who knows — I might be able to reliably shoot 5x indoors, instead of having to cross my fingers that the amount of light I see is what my iPhone is actually picking up.

iPhones might also become better for action work. They’re pretty solid now, when lighting is good — 28 Years Later was partly shot with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, albeit with thousands of dollars in add-ons — yet you wouldn’t want to use one to capture pro photos of an NFL game, and even the EUC rides I go on could stand to look better. In theory, Apple’s tech could give people a better chance at freezing motion in a wide variety of lighting conditions.

Don’t count on any of this coming anytime soon, unfortunately. The iPhone 17 should already be in production ahead of its September 2025 launch, and if the new sensor tech is still experimental, it might already be too late to put it into the iPhone 18. If I were to bet, I wouldn’t wager on it showing up until the iPhone 19 at the earliest. That’s assuming that everything about the rumor proves true.

I’d love to be surprised, and find myself shooting anything and everything on an iPhone 18 next year. But until I get hands-on proof that the phone camera revolution is here, I’m probably going to remain as snobbish as I’ve always been. That’s not such a bad thing — it’s all in the name of taking photos worth looking at.