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Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro could feature a new camera lens system with the same ‘tetraprism’ telephoto lens technology as the iPhone 15 Pro Max, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

For those who are not familiar, Apple launched the iPhone 15 Pro series this year with different camera systems. To be precise, the smaller iPhone 15 Pro (the 6.1-inch model) lacks the 5X 120mm zoom lens found in the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max but notably retains the same 48MP main and 12MP ultrawide sensors.

So, with the iPhone 16 Pro series—as per Ming-Chi Kuo—Apple could eliminate this difference and offer the same tetraprism lens with the smaller phone as well.

In the past, Apple has made similar moves, such as with the iPhone 12 Pro Max offering a larger 12MP camera sensor with sensor-shift optical stabilization compared to the smaller 12MP sensor offered with the iPhone 12 Pro. However, later, when the iPhone 13 Pro models were launched, Apple started offering the same technology across the board. Therefore, something similar could happen this time as well.

“Both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro are expected to feature tetraprism telephoto cameras. If Apple maintains the higher specification for the lens, it will raise the entry barrier for Genius, Apple’s second-largest lens supplier, next year,” said Ming-Chi Kuo.

For the past couple of years, with the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro series, Apple has offered the same camera system. So, it was somewhat surprising that Apple chose to backtrack on its steps and decided to create a difference between the camera systems of the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max.