Apple’s upcoming 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 smartphones won’t simply be copies of each other when it comes to hardware, a new report from highly informed KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5Mac and AppleInsider) indicates. The iPhone 6 phablet will have certain differentiating features, supposedly including a better camera. The 5.5-inch model is expected to have a camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), while the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is said to be equipped with an improved camera that lacks OIS.
“[We] predict it will use a middle-mount type of open-loop [voice coil motor (VCM)] updated from the one used in the existing iPhone 5S,” wrote Kuo, who has been accurate in previous forecasts detailing unreleased Apple products. “The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 is more likely to be equipped with OIS VCM due to lower estimated shipments and the need for more product features to differentiate itself from the 4.7-inch iPhone 6.”
That doesn’t mean the camera performance of the smaller iPhone 6 will have to suffer, Kuo added, even if Apple’s middle-mount VCM choice will be different between iPhone 6 models, and different from what other smartphone makers use.
“Compared with conventional open-loop VCM, closed-loop VCM keeps records of focus points, enabling it to produce better quality pictures, focus faster and save power. Nonetheless, there are many factors that affect picture quality, and VCM specification is just one of them. Therefore, we believe overall picture quality of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will lead its peers.”
Kuo also revealed that the iPhone 6 models will likely have 8-megapixel sensors, consistent with what some previous reports claimed, and in line with Apple’s policy of not fighting a smartphone camera megapixels war with rivals.
In addition to improving the camera hardware for its iPhone 6 models, Apple will also improve camera software features in iOS 8. Furthermore, for the first time ever, Apple is prepared to offer users more access to camera manual controls, which should help them capture even better photos and videos.
The iPhone 6 models are expected to arrive this fall, with mass-production set to start in July.
