The iPhone 15 Pro might not get the camera upgrade we'd hoped for

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That 8P camera might not be after all.

iPhone 14 Pro Max Deep Purple and iPhone 14 Pro Space Black
(Image credit: Future)

Previous rumors of Apple's iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max getting an 8P camera might have been wide of the mark, according to a new report.

The camera upgrade, rumored for a while now, would see the new Pro models getting an upgraded camera setup to differentiate them from the non-Pro models further. But now analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that might not be the case.

iPhone 15 Pro camera

The 8P references the number of elements inside the cameras and would have seen the new iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro have an extra element over the current models. That would, in turn, theoretically at least allow for images with less distortion.

While rumors of the 8P construction have been knocking around for a little while, Kuo now says that the "rumored iPhone 15 Pro series's adoption of an 8P lens won't likely come true," although he didn't go into details as to why that would be.

While disappointing, the news wouldn't likely affect the biggest upgrade we expect next year's iPhone 15 Pro Max to get. Rumors have that device being called the iPhone 15 Ultra, adding an all-new periscope lens to the mix.

The addition of a periscope lens would allow Apple to increase significantly the level of zoom offered by the flagship iPhone. The current iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models only provide a maximum of 3x optical zoom — the move to a periscope lens could see that extended to 10x. That would undoubtedly make the iPhone 15 Pro Max/Ultra the best iPhone for photographers to date.

If Apple follows its usual release schedule,, we can expect Apple to announce its new iPhones in September of 2023, likely with USC-C offered rather than Lightning. for the first time.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
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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.