Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 Pro will use a familiar supplier for its new telephoto camera lens

An iPhone 15 Pro Max against an abstract multi-colored retro background.
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future / Apple)

Apple today announced that it will hold its annual iPhone event on September 9, and there is plenty to look forward to. Whether it's Apple Intelligence or the speedy new A18 chip that you're most excited about, photographers might have something else that makes them giddy — a big camera upgrade.

Rumors had already suggested that the iPhone 16 Pro would gain a new tetraprism 5x camera lens for the first time, borrowing it from the iPhone 15 Pro. The same lens will also be used in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, too. Now, a new report claims that the same company will be used for both lenses.

What's more, the lens will be provided by the same company that has already produced them for the iPhone 15 Pro, suggesting that it shouldn't have too many issues this time around.

Zooming in on LG Innotek

The company in question is LG Innotek, The Elec reports, adding that it will be the sole supplier for the tetraprism lenses this year.

Tetraprism lenses, or folded lenses, use prisms to be redirected within the lens to artificially distance the lens from the camera's sensor. That allows for increased levels of zoom without the need for an increased camera module thickness — a feature that allows phones to be made thinner without impacting camera performance.

However, LG Innotek will only provide the lenses for the initial run of iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models. The report claims that the fourth quarter will see Apple switch to Foxconn and Cowell in an attempt to reduce manufacturing costs.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.