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

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Launch Is Just One Month Out – Here's Everything We Know

Saturday August 10, 2024 5:00 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are just one month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design...
macbook pro bb cyber

Apple's M3 MacBook Pro Gets Up to $1,000 Off In Major New Sales, Starting at $1,299 [Updated]

Sunday August 11, 2024 1:54 pm PDT by
Apple's M3 MacBook Pro is seeing multiple high value discounts on Best Buy and Amazon today, with up to $1,000 off select models. This includes a new all-time low price on the entry-level M3 512GB 14-inch MacBook Pro at $1,299.00, down from $1,599.00, and a massive $1,000 discount on the high-end 16-inch model exclusively for Best Buy members. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best...
iPhone 16 Pro Right Side Feature

The iPhone 16 is Getting a New Button: Here's What It Can Do

Tuesday August 13, 2024 4:01 pm PDT by
Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode. Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to ...
iOS 18 on iPhone Feature

Everything New in iOS 18.1 Beta 2 and iOS 18 Beta 6

Monday August 12, 2024 2:32 pm PDT by
Apple is beta testing iOS 18 and the first update to iOS 18 concurrently, and we got the second betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 today alongside the sixth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15. Many of the changes in iOS 18.1 are focused on bringing the .1 betas in line with the standard betas, which recently received updates to Photos and Safari, while...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Thursday August 8, 2024 4:40 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

Next Year's Slim iPhone 17 Could Be an 'iPhone Air'

Monday August 12, 2024 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's rumored iPhone 17 "Slim" could be positioned as an iPhone "Air" to boost sales, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained how the "fourth" model in the iPhone lineup since 2020 (the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 15 Plus) has largely been a commercial failure. In the case of the Plus model,...

Top Rated Comments

s_muxiu Avatar
9 months ago
just wanna 48Mp Telephoto camera
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aluminum213 Avatar
9 months ago
*throws iPhone 15 pro max in the garbage*
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swiftapplefan Avatar
9 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
9 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
9 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
9 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)