Patent granted: When will iPhones come with super zoom via periscope lens?

[17:55 Tue,24.August 2021 by Thomas Richter]

We had reported already about a year ago about a rumor that Apple wants to produce iPhones with an improved optical zoom via periscope lens in the future. Now, a corresponding patent that has just been granted has actually been published, which Apple had filed in the US in January 2019, confirming the rumor in retrospect.

Principle of the patented periscope camera.

The patent describes a camera with a 90° bent lens (aka periscope), which also has the ability to move the different lenses as a group in different axes, for example for an autofocus or an integrated optical image stabilization.

The following picture from the patent application shows the periscope camera - on the top left is the camera&s aperture, and on the bottom right is the upward-facing sensor. By means of two prisms (1304 and 1306), the light is deflected by 90° each.

Apple&s periscope camera in detail

Periscope lenses

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Apple is a bit late with innovative smartphone features, as is often the case; the periscope lens was first introduced in Huawei&s P30 Pro back in 2019, and it is now already installed by several Android smartphone manufacturers. The current front-runner is Samsung with the new Galaxy S21 Ultra, which can optically zoom 10x via periscope lens.

Periscope lenses use a simple trick to get around the fact that a telephoto lens has to have a large focal length so that there is enough distance between the various lenses arranged one behind the other, which are necessary for a high zoom, to keep enlarging the image.

Periscope camera in smartphone

The principle is the same as that of periscopes used in submarines, for example: in the periscope lens, the focal length (i.e. distance of light) is divided by a mirror into two segments, which are arranged at 90° to each other. This allows the zoom lens to cover the longest part of this distance horizontally in the smartphone&s casing before it then hits the image sensor on the side.

This avoids an unsightly lens protruding from the otherwise thin casing. A disadvantage is the space required for the periscope lens for the beam path in the casing, for which the space for other components has to be reduced in view of the lack of space in modern highly integrated smartphones.

However, those who are looking forward to a new iPhone with Periscope Zoom will have to be patient, because an iPhone (14) with Periscope Zoom is not expected until 2023 at the earliest.

more infos at bei patft.uspto.gov

deutsche Version dieser Seite: Patent erteilt: Wann kommen iPhones mit Super-Zoom per Periskop-Objektiv?