Huge updates to the iPhone 15's camera turn the 15 Pro into a con — here's why (report)

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The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max benefit from Apple’s new 48MP sensor, but this year, it may not just be on the Pro models. This year, you could very well see it come to every iPhone 15 model.

A report from ITHome suggests that the manufacturing process behind camera modules has faced significantly more strain this year compared to last, and that’s because Apple is rolling out this upgraded shooter across every one of the new iPhones.

Feeling snap happy

This latest scoop goes in on the specifics of ordering the camera modules, which Apple sources from Sony. The latter company has felt the pressure of trying to meet a particularly demanding order from the former. This has led to the point of Sony reaching out to TSMC for additional help, due to “the lack of production capacity.”

But if there weren’t struggles when it came to make the 48MP main camera module for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, why are there these pressures now? Well, the rumor is Apple’s going to go with a “full upgrade” — meaning that every phone in the iPhone 15 range will get this sensor upgrade.

With that change, manufacturing for this hardware has placed an additional strain on Sony, and they’ve asked TSMC for the additional help. This is compounded by the additional complexities of the CMOS sensor’s intricacies, such as moving from a double layer to triple layer stack for taking in all that additional data and crispy detail, while reducing the image noise.

Outlook

This seems unlike Apple, and rather out of touch with what the company is trying to do in separating the pro and standard models. But if true (as always, take rumors with a pinch of salt), this could be huge for the iPhone 15 lineup.

My upgrade is coming up after a two-year contract on the iPhone 13 Pro, and while I may have been initially looking towards the iPhone 15 Pro for my creative work, the fact the standard model could get the 48MP camera (as well as the Dynamic Island treatment) is making me think otherwise.

Time will tell whether this is true, though. But keep your eyes locked on Laptop Mag for any more rumors or leaks that confirm this camera upgrade.

Jason brought a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a writer at Laptop Mag, and he is now the Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He takes a particular interest in writing articles and creating videos about laptops, headphones and games. He has previously written for Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.