The domain of Apple leaks is currently obsessed with the controversial iPhone 17 Pro design refresh, which could stir some heated debate with its massive camera hump. A lot of chatter is also focused on the svelte iPhone 17 Air. Yet, it seems there are a few other internal upgrades worth getting excited about.
According to analyst Jeff Pu, Apple will equip all four iPhone 17 series models with an upgraded 24-megapixel front camera. So far, Apple has stuck with a 12-megapixel selfie snapper on its mainline iPhones. Moreover, the company hasn’t ever deployed a 24-megapixel camera sensor, keeping its experiments limited to 12-megapixel and 48-megapixel units in the past few years.
The research note by Pu, which was seen by MacRumors and 9to5Mac, doesn’t go into details about the specifications or feature details of the new 24-megapixel front snapper on the iPhone 17 series. However, we can take an educated guess, based on what Apple accomplished when it switched from 12-megapixel to 48-megapixel rear cameras.
A 24-megapixel sensor will most likely default to pixel-binning for delivering pictures and videos at a lower resolution than the native pixel count. Pixel-binning essentially combines the light data collected by adjacent pixels, creating what is colloquially known as a super-pixel.
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The sum total of these efforts are pictures that are more detailed and with more realistic color rendering, especially in low-light scenarios. Depending on how the pixels are combined, the final image is usually a lower-resolution shot, but more pleasing to look at.
For example, the iPhone 16 Pro’s 48-megapixel main camera does 4-in-1 pixel binning to produce 12-megapixel pictures, but you can still stick full-res 48-megapixel shots, too. There’s also an intermediary option to to get the best of both worlds with 24-megapixel clicks.
With a 24-megapixel selfie camera coming into the picture, iPhone 17 buyers can expect improved selfies and better-quality video calls. Moreover, since there are more pixels to collect light data, Apple might leverage it to offer more advanced camera features, too.
Low-light selfies, in particular, will draw a major benefit from a larger sensor. Moreover, when cropping and zooming in, the detail loss won’t be as discernible as it is on smaller camera sensors. Additionally, the 24-megapixel sensor could also pave the way for finer background blur effects.
In addition to an improved front camera, the iPhone 17 Pro is also expected to jump from a 12-megapixel zoom camera to a 48-megapixel telephoto sensor. Apple is also rumored to increase the RAM capacity, taking it up to 12GB, on the iPhone 17 Pro models.