14 DAY TRIAL // There are a lot of rumors regarding features that may or may not exist on the upcoming iPhone 7, but the latest has surfaced after Apple itself was granted a patent for a new technology that could be used on the next model.
Patently Apple has discovered that the Cupertino-based company developed a dual-camera system for the iPhone that's supposed to provide users with the best photo quality that you can get on a smartphone right now.
The technology isn't necessarily new, as HTC has already used dual cameras on the M8, but the way Apple's could work is still a mystery. And yet, the patent application suggests that the iPhone could have two different cameras, one featuring a wide lens and the other one offering deeper focal length. The final goal is to let you zoom in without compromising quality, the aforementioned source notes.
At the same time, it's believed that the two cameras could each have a different purpose. One could be used for taking photos and the other one for recording videos, thus coming with dedicated settings to optimize their performance.
Different purposes
More, they could both shoot the same picture at the same time with different lighting and color settings and then stitch the result for better quality. And part of the patent suggests this could be the case:
“Some embodiments generate a synthetic result image at least in part from data of the first image and data of the second image. In some embodiments, the synthetic intermediate image has is generated by enhancing the first image using data from the second image. Some embodiments display the first image and the second image in a shared screen interface.”
And last but not least, each of the two cameras could play their own role and capture different objects. Apple explains:
“In some embodiments, second camera module 3084 can be used as a telephoto camera module to zoom in on the face of the child as she is about to blow out the candles and first camera module 3082 can capture a burst of high resolution still images of her smiling face. In some embodiments, first camera module 3082 is simultaneously capturing standard 1080p 30 frames per second video of the entire group of kids gathered and singing around the cake.”
Obviously, it's not yet known for sure whether the iPhone 7 or perhaps a later model is the one to get such technology, but it's pretty clear that Apple is looking into ways to get closer to the quality offered by a DSLR. Whether the iPhone 7 could be the one boasting it still remains to be seen.