An image showing a third-party phone case for the upcoming iPhone 14 series, while nothing new in design, provides important information on how big the camera module bump on Apple’s flagship smartphone will become.
After seeing lackluster sales of the iPhone 13 mini, Apple will focus on larger iPhone models this year, we expect to see the 6.1-inch iPhone 14, 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max iPhone 14 Pro Max.
While no major design changes are expected, all of these models are likely to see an upgrade to the camera, so the raised area of the camera will change by about 5%, with the difference most noticeable in the Pro model (in the picture from the left one corresponds to the third case).
All iPhone 14 models are expected to see an upgrade to the wide-angle camera on the rear of the device, while the iPhone Pro models could see major improvements to the main wide-angle camera and an update to the telephoto lens.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the iPhone 14 Pro model will be equipped with a 48-megapixel wide-angle camera and the addition of 8K video recording, which will be a major upgrade to the current 12-megapixel camera.
The 48-megapixel camera on the iPhone 14 Pro models may also be able to deliver 12-megapixel photos through a process known as pixel binning. Pixel binning combines data from multiple smaller pixels on a camera’s image sensor into a single “superpixel” to improve sensor sensitivity in low light.
Whether it is worth introducing the huge size of the camera module for enhanced photo quality has not been proven by the market, but suffice it to say that due to the increased size, it is unlikely that a case designed for the iPhone 13 model will fit the iPhone 14 model.
If Apple follows past release schedules, expect to see iPhone 14 models at an event in September 2022.