While we won’t see the iPhone 16 until September, it’s not too early to look forward to the iPhone 17, right? Well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Wednesday said the iPhone 17 lineup will feature a 24-megapixel front-facing camera. Kuo shared the information in a post on Medium.
The current iPhone 15 lineup features a 12-megapixel front-facing camera with five plastic lens elements. The iPhone 16 lineup is expected to use the same front-facing hardware. However, Kuo says the iPhone 17 will boast a 24-megapixel camera with a six-element lens, significantly improving the image quality of the front-facing camera.
“Replacement demand for the two iPhone 16 Pro models will benefit from the larger screen, increasing shipments by 5-10% compared to the iPhone 15 Pro series,” Kuo estimated.
“The ultra-wide camera of the iPhone 16 Pro series will be upgraded to 48MP/0.7um/(1/2.6″) (vs. iPhone 15 Pro’s 12MP/1.0um/(1/3.6″))”, he continued. “The expected output specification is 12MP, which will significantly improve image quality.”
The upgraded resolution to 24 megapixels would allow for greater detail and clarity in images. The camera’s higher resolution would allow photos to maintain their quality even when they are cropped or zoomed in. The larger number of pixels also allows for the capturing of finer details.
The front-facing camera upgrade is just one of the several new features analysts expect to see in the iPhone 17 lineup, as the iPhone 17 Pro is expected to feature the first under-panel Face ID technology on an iPhone. The iPhone 17 Pro is also expected to be the last premium iPhone model to sport a front-facing camera cutout, as Apple is expected to adopt under-display cameras in iPhone 18 Pro models.