Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Phones
  3. Mobile
  4. Photography
  5. News

Apple’s dual-camera setup is likely to be a game changer for smartphone cameras

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

It has been rumored that both Apple and Samsung are working on utilizing a dual-camera setup on future smartphones. However, little information is known about what such a setup would offer. Thanks to a recent patent application, we have a good idea where Apple is heading with this tech.

Apple’s “Mobile Camera System” patent was recently published at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It a nutshell, it’s a system for using multiple cameras to provide optical zoom, which is likely to appear on a future iPhone. This setup includes two cameras, each set to a different focal length. The user could switch between the two cameras, and in some cases, the images from each lens would be combined or preserved separately.

Recommended Videos

Optical zoom is something that is only reserved for standalone point-and-shoot and DSLR cameras. Smartphone cameras only offer digital zoom, which means that zooming in is actually a form of cropping since it lowers the resolution. For example, if your smartphone has a 12-megapixel camera, you might end up with a 5-megapixel photo after digitally zooming. Optical zoom allows you to get closer to the subject while retaining the full resolution. This means that your zoomed-in photo would still be at 12-megapixels.

Apple_Dual_Camera_Patent
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple isn’t stopping at optical zoom as the patent suggests other cool features. Users will be able to record slow-motion video using one camera and normal speed video with the other. The combination of the two could make for some interesting edits.

Apple also plans on allowing users to capture stills and video at the same time. This is already an option on the iPhone now, but a dual-camera setup would allow for full resolution images to be captured at the same time, not to mention different focal lengths. This means the images from one camera could be zoomed in while the video is zoomed out on the second camera. An example in the patent is a baseball game in which the user films a batter from further away with one camera, while the second camera captures closeup photos of the batter as he swings. The second camera could also record video instead.

Users could also record and save video at different resolutions at the same time. For example, you might be utilizing 1080p video today, but you could record 4K video at the same time so its ready when you buy that new TV.

We must stress that not all patents come to fruition, but there’s a good chance for this one since Apple has been a pioneer with cameras on its iPhones. The only question left is if this dual-camera setup will appear on the iPhone 7 and/or iPhone 7 Plus? We’re hopeful the answer is yes.

Robert Nazarian
Robert Nazarian
Former Contributor
Robert Nazarian became a technology enthusiast when his parents bought him a Radio Shack TRS-80 Color. Now his biggest…
Topics
I visited Infinix’s first global flagship store, and it’s unlike any phone store I’ve been to
Phones, coffee, and robots: Infinix's Bali concept store was a delightful surprise
Infinix Flagship Store

I've been to plenty of smartphone stores over the years, and I can't tell any of these experiences apart. Picture neatly arranged tables, rows of smartphones, and the occasional accessory tucked away in a corner. Honestly, this works for most people who show up knowing exactly what they need and just leave.

So, when Infinix invited me to Bali for the grand opening of its first global flagship concept store, I was curious to see what the company had planned. I expected an elaborate showroom and a few extra things, like eye-catching installations to celebrate the occasion. And while there were a few of these, a lot of the things that actually caught my eye were permanent parts of the store.

Read more
Apple’s supply chain power is legendary, but a new report says it’s downright brutal  
Whatever you've heard before, the reality is a lot more shocking.
Teradown view of an iPhone.

Ever wonder just how powerful Apple’s market status is? To give you an idea, here’s a passage from a searing report published by The Wall Street Journal published a few days ago:

“Around the end of 2015, Sandisk refused Apple’s requests to send additional supply because it already had customers willing to pay more. Blevins threatened a Sandisk salesman with retaliation, saying he would have Sandisk’s chief executive, Sanjay Mehrotra, “crawl on his knees” back to Apple, according to a person familiar with the call."

Read more
Android’s new ‘SMS of Death’ exploit can crash your phone without you doing anything
A malicious text message can disrupt calls and leave an Android phone stuck in a reboot loop, without the owner knowing what happened.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra smartphone in blue color.

A security researcher has uncovered a serious vulnerability in Android that allows an attacker to remotely crash a smartphone using a specially crafted text message. Dubbed "SMS of Death," the flaw can disrupt cellular services, disconnect ongoing calls, and even leave a phone stuck in a reboot loop. The troubling part is that the recipient doesn't have to interact with it at all.

The flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-58882, was discovered by security researcher Mark Blaszczyk, who first notified Google about it in May. On October 29, he published his findings alongside a working demonstration, after successfully reproducing the attack on Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Google has already developed a fix, but its availability across Android devices is another matter.

Read more