Apple’s iPhone 15 series is slated to be released in the second half of this year and may feature a periscope lens, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. However, news of Apple working on adding a Periscope zoom feature is not new. In 2021, Kuo highlighted that the lens will be available in an iPhone in 2023, where it is likely to be in the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max next year.
A periscope lens provides better optical zoom when taking pictures and contains an “actuator” mechanism for movement of the zoom element inside the lens. According to a report by TheElec, supplies for the actuators are now in the hands of two companies: LG Inotek and Jahwa Electronics, as former supplier Japan Alps expects Apple to have trouble supplying actuators.
Industry reports suggest that 70% of the OIS actuators for Apple’s iPhone 15 series fold zoom will be supplied by LG Innotek and 30% by Jahwa Electronics. Fold zoom technology is a “telephoto camera module” that works by bending light with a prism and transmitting it to the image sensor. This prevents the camera from bumping into the back of the phone. Jahwa Electronics, working with Samsung Electronics, developed a more profitable ball-guide-type actuator, which is even more advanced than Apple’s current method. Additionally, the company is the largest supplier of actuators for the Samsung Galaxy A54 this year, thus becoming Apple’s supplier.
On the other hand, LG Innotek is to provide the main supply of the fold zoom and more than half of the actuators for Apple, as the company has invested 1.6563 trillion won in its “Optical Solution (Camera Module) Division.” While LG Innotek and Jahwa Electronics have replaced Japan Alps and Mitsumi, they will still supply Apple with spring-type actuators for other iPhone camera module actuators.
Source: The Elect
