It's probably the same as the 2x zoom in the iPhone 16 line. The 1x pictures are a 48MP sensor that does some pixel-combining to output a 12MP image. The 2x pictures are a crop of 12MP in the center of the sensor, that doesn't do any combining. So it's still "optical", but it's lower-quality than the 1x.
Optical zoom changes significantly how out-of-focus areas looks like. For anyone doing photography (with actual cameras and actual lenses), calling crop an "optical zoom" is a lie from Apple.
If you have an actual physical zoom lens, cropping a zoomed out photo produces a different result than zooming in with the lens in the first place. Even when your camera/sensor doesn't move. It's all physics yo
I think it's not "zooming with the sensor", but has a slim lens stack to enable optical 2x zoom. The whole system is also PDAF, so they need the movement anyway.
No, it’s literally a digital crop exactly like the other sensors that use 48MP sensors. There’s nothing magic here. I would be shocked if it’s anything different than the exact identical camera used in the base iPhone 15, quite frankly. The cheaper versions never use the latest hardware for the cameras.
They did the modem because it's actually cheaper for them. They already bought the Intel division and had engineers work on it for over 5 years, so it's already sunk costs at best. Since they came up with a working design, it is FOR SURE cheaper for them to use it than to buy something from Qualcomm.
I'm a bit suspicious about this, because if it was truly great, they would have waited longer to advertise it as a must have feature for their "pro" devices.
It's sort of beta testing the thing on the lower volume product with less tech literate people who won't complain too much because of some weird connectivity issues.
If it performs, Apple is going to make even more money on the next round of iPhone, not that Apple needs any more money but you know, if that could stop them from increasing the price, that could be nice.
If it were an optical zoom then it would be able to take 24MP and 48MP shots like it can in 1x mode, but it is limited to 12MP which highly suggests its just a crop.
