Last Updated on 02/09/2016 by Chris Gampat
The iPhone is of course the world’s most popular camera, but it’s also been used for professional applications when it comes to photography. According to the Cult of Mac, it’s probably going to get even better. A variant of what is said to be the iPhone 7 is rumored to use a LinX camera system which offers a big solution to an even bigger problem for many mobile shooters: the lack of a working aperture.
The solution offered by the LinX camera system isn’t one with a sensor and a lens with a variable aperture. Instead, LinX puts multiple smaller sensors right next to each other. Each sensor has a different lens with a different aperture. So essentially, you’re choosing which sensor and aperture to use by literally choosing a segment of the camera to utilize.
Some phones have had a solution for a while, but Apple hasn’t. The company, for the past couple of years has been behind Android in many respects when it comes to technology though their system just seems to work better overall.
This solution is an interesting one which helps to keep the overall device smaller, but could also run into interesting caveats. For example, what if your phone’s camera takes some sort of hit? Will all the cameras cease to function or just one or two? Also, will it actually be utilized. While the rumors state that this will be targeted at pro photographers there are soooooo many folks out there who straight up buy a DSLR just for the pro look and feel. Those folks may be the ones to buy this phone and continue to use it in auto mode. Why? Because products are made in China for cheap and they can afford to.
Granted, the sensors are also still very small, so you’re not going to render beautiful bokeh when shooting portraits though you can absolutely get it with food or macro shots.