What you need to know
- LG Innotek is helping make iPhone 14 front-facing cameras.
- Sharp is another company providing the parts to Apple.
- It's thought the new camera will cost three times more than the outgoing iPhone 13 part.
Apple's upcoming iPhone 14 devices are in line for a hot new front-facing camera according to a new report that backs up a previous one from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. This time we're also learning that the new part is set to cost Apple considerably more than the one that can be found in current iPhones.
In fact, the report claims that iPhone 14 selfie cameras will cost three times that of the current iPhone 13 part.
Following a report by Kuo that the iPhone 14 would gain autofocus capabilities, a new ETNews report now says that the part will be at least partly produced in South Korea after Apple decided against adding a Chinese manufacturer to the list. Apple appears to be making the front-facing camera a more important part of the overall package, too.
For the first time in iPhone history, Apple will install a South Korean products for the front (selfie) camera. A Chinese company was cut and a Korean company was selected as a supplier. Apple is changing their camera supply chain management (SCM) as front cameras, which were classified as low-end, has become high-end.
The report goes on to say that LG Innotek has now joined Japanese outfit Sharp as being the two companies that will produce front-facing cameras for the new iPhone 14 models. The move will reportedly mean that LG Innotek will "make trillions in sales just from iPhone 14 front camera orders alone."
The addition of autofocus to the new camera part will reportedly cause the cost to increase sharply, although it isn't yet clear whether that cost will be passed on to consumers when it comes to iPhone buying season later this year. Apple's iPhone 14 will be the best iPhone it's ever made and demand is likely to be high regardless.
