Apple has made a strategic acquisition that may help it significantly improve the camera quality in its future smartphones, including the iPhone 7. The Cupertino company has confirmed the acquisition of Israeli camera sensor maker LinX. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that the iPhone maker paid $20 million for LinX.
LinX sensors offer much better performance in low-light shooting
LinX technology would allow the future iPhones to capture sharper, clearer and 3-dimensional images. It would also help Apple get rid of the protruding iPhone cameras by replacing one large sensor with multiple smaller sensors. Macquarie Capital analysts said in a research note that LinX’s sensors offer better performance in low-light conditions, HDR, color fidelity, shutter lag and refocusing.
LinX will also help improve sensitivity and reduce noise in iPhone cameras. The Israeli company claims that its sensors and algorithms create high-quality images that match DSLR cameras. You can refocus your pictures after they have been taken. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier this month that Apple will not release the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus this September. Instead, the company will jump directly to the iPhone 7.
iPhone 7 may sport a ‘duo cam’ feature
That’s because the upcoming smartphone will feature the Force Touch technology, which is too big a feature for an iPhone 6S. The ‘S’ versions are usually minor upgrades to their predecessors. Macquarie Capital further said that the iPhone 7 may sport a “duo cam” feature similar to the HTC One M8. It will allow users to capture the depth of field images that are three-dimensional.
If Apple includes LinX’s sensors in the iPhone 7, it will be a huge coup. It may encourage the iPhone 6 users to upgrade early. The iPhones still feature an 8-megapixel camera. But Apple’s rivals are setting higher benchmarks in terms of smartphone cameras. Recently, a detailed review by PCMag revealed that Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge take much better images than the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Apple needs to up the ante.
