Future iPhone Models to Get New Face ID Transmitter, Unibody Lens Design, Periscopic Telephoto Lens [Report]

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with another research note predicting some improvements that Apple will make to future iPhone models.

The analyst believes that next year, Apple will introduce a new Face ID transmitter that’s made from plastic instead of glass.

In the past, it was widely believed that the reason the Tx lens had to adopt glass material was to avoid distortion due to the heat generated by VCSEL operation. Our latest survey indicates that the Face ID TX lens for the new 2H21 ‌iPhone‌ will be made of plastic instead of glass, thanks to improved coating technologies and that the Tx plastic lens suppliers are Largan and Genius, with Largan being the primary beneficiary of this material change due to its higher supply share.

Apple is also expected to move to a 6-element camera lens for high-end models in 2021 and a 7-element lens the year after. Additionally, the 2022 iPhone could use a “unibody lens design”.

To reduce the front camera module’s size, we predict that the new ‌iPhone‌ will adopt a unibody lens design in 2H22 at the earliest. This design requires the lens and VCM [voice coil motor] to be assembled before shipping to CCM. Since Largan will start shipping ‌iPhone‌ VCM for new iPhones in 2H21, we believe that if Apple adopts the unibody lens design in the future, Largan, a new VCM supplier, can integrate lens design production advantages and benefit from this new trend.

Kuo previously predicted that in 2022, Apple will move from the notch to a hole punch design for the front facing camera on some if not all of its iPhones.

Finally, Kuo says that Apple will move to a periscopic telephoto lens design in 2023, pushing back a previous prediction. Periscopic lenses allow for improved optical zoom and are already being used by the competing devices like the Huawei P30 Pro.

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