LG unveils breakthrough camera module with seamless optical zoom, coming to iPhone 15 Ultra?

Although LG exited the smartphone market a few years ago, the South Korean company continues to work closely with the rest of the phone industry and develop components for its ex-rivals and current partners. 

The latest piece of tech to come straight from LG Innotek is a periscope lens with movable components, which would allow for seamless transition in the 4X-9X telephoto range without sacrificing image quality. At the same time, the whole camera module is more compact and flexible, allowing significant space savings and a reduction of the notorious camera island. 

How has LG achieved such a feat? Well, traditional folded periscope lenses (like the one Samsung debuted with the Galaxy S20 Ultra and has used ever since) use a combination between optical and digital zoom, usually offering fixed zoom levels like 2X, 3X, 5X, 10X, and filling the remainder with optical zoom. LG's new camera solution houses a minuscule zoom actuator that's much like the one you'd find on the zoom lens of a full-blown mirrorless or DSLR camera. The actuator is precise down to the micrometer, says LG, and allows the lens to switch in the 4X-9X zoom range without loss of camera resolution and image quality. 

LG's latest camera lens is seemingly fully compatible with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform, as LG and Qualcomm are working jointly to optimize the new camera module and deliver  Auto-Focus, Auto-Exposure, Auto-White Balance, lens shading correction, and other enhancements to the new camera module. What's more, we might see the new camera lens in action in a week's time, as LG says some products will be showcased at CES 2023 which kicks off next week.

Some probable adopters of the fancy new camera module include OnePlus, Xiaomi, Motorola, Oppo, and even Apple, which is actually LG Innotek's largest customer. Could we see the breakthrough new camera module in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra, which are rumored to finally adopt a periscope lens? Here's to hoping.