iPhone 7 will have a 12MP camera, according to inside source

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With Apple’s next iPhone event looming, the rumour mill has spun into overdrive. The latest info-nugget to spill out of the supply chain concerns the iPhone 6s/7’s camera, which a source claims will use a 12MP sensor.

The current iPhone 6 uses an 8MP sensor and does so very well. Despite virtually all rival phones boasting substantially more megapixels, we still rate the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus’ cameras as among the best in the business. Essentially, Apple does more with 8MP than most manufacturers can with 16MP.

Our readers, however felt the LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S6 edged out the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in a blind test, so perhaps it is time for Apple’s smartphone to get a sensor upgrade.

According to the source, who claims to work somewhere in Apple’s supply chain, the company is ordering its suppliers to make five-element lenses suitable for 12MP sensors. He or she says the components are in the mass production stage now, with production on schedule, and also that Apple has ordered a different, six-element lens to be built for a future device – the following iPhone, perhaps, or possibly the iPad Pro?

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus use a five-element lens (each element is a separate tiny plastic lens, essentially) but the source claims the new setup is a higher spec, designed to work with a more sensitive, higher quality sensor.

This new rumour fits in with a lot of the existing speculation and insider claims about the iPhone 6s’ camera. John Gruber, a longtime reliable source for Apple stories, predicted that the 6 to 6s would represent the biggest jump in camera quality in iPhone history, while back in May we heard the first rumours of a 12MP sensor replacing the current 8MP sensor.

You can read about that and all other iPhone 7/6s rumours in our preview, but there’s not long to wait to find out for certain: Apple is holding an event on 9th September, and we’ll eat our collective hats, shoes and underwear if the new iPhone isn’t debuted then.

[Source: Business Insider]

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Tech journalism's answer to The Littlest Hobo, I've written for a host of titles and lived in three different countries in my 15 years-plus as a freelancer. But I've always come back home to Stuff eventually, where I specialise in writing about cameras, streaming services and being tragically addicted to Destiny.