Report names two firms as potential periscope lens suppliers for the iPhone 15 Ultra

A couple of days ago, we told you that the iPhone 15 Ultra/Pro Max could feature a periscope camera for improved optical zoom capabilities. Such a feature uses a folded-up camera inside the phone with prisms to bounce the light captured from the lens and have it sent to the image sensor. This allows for the focal length to be extended even though a smartphone is a relatively small device. Currently, the iPhone 14 Pro Max delivers 3x optical zoom while a periscope camera might bump that to as high as 6x for the iPhone 15 Ultra.

Having a periscope camera on the iPhone 15 Ultra but not the iPhone 15 Pro would seem to be in line with the idea that the 15 Pro Max name will not be used because it would create a major difference between the two premium iPhone 15 models. Until Apple makes this official, it's anyone's guess what the next-gen top-of-the-line iPhone will be called.

Largan Precision is reportedly the company that will be Apple's main source of the lenses used on the periscope camera and some reports even referred to the company as the sole supplier of the parts. But DigiTimes (via MacRumors) begs to differ and in a paywalled report, it cited industry sources (as is its wont) who claim that Largan Precision and Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO) are both potential periscope lens suppliers.

While the report doesn't call GSEO a secondary supplier, having more than one company delivering key parts isn't necessarily strange or unusual. Some manufacturers prefer to have more than one company delivering a major part that they cannot do without. According to DigiTimes, GSEO has shipped periscope camera lenses before which was back in 2021 when it delivered them to an unknown Japanese handset manufacturer.

Reliable TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated last month that Apple would pay Largan $4 apiece on average for its periscope camera lenses (including the prisms) while the market itself expected Apple to pay $4.50 or even $5. Kuo notes that as a result, Largan cannot turn a profit on this contract. But if things go well, you can expect Apple to pay a higher price for future iPhone models.

And speaking about future models, Kuo says that both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will sport periscope cameras. The analyst says that the periscope camera systems used in the 2024 models, will use the same or similar lenses as the ones to be used this year with the iPhone 15 Ultra.