iPhone 16 Pro Max may come with this major camera upgrade for better performance

With about 7 months left for the launch of the Apple iPhone 16 series, assuming Apple sticks to the September launch tradition, speculations have run rampant regarding the next-generation models. In the latest update, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to have a larger main camera sensor for better photo and video taking capabilities.

As spotted by MacRumors, this information comes from ‘Digital Chat Station’, a Weibo user who has been reporting on multiple iPhone details over time. He suggests that the iPhone 16 Pro will be an “image flagship”, meaning it will be camera-centric and focus on its camera performance.

He says the sensor coming with the iPhone 16 Pro Max will be 12% larger than the sensor currently seen in the iPhone 15 Pro models, as well as the iPhone 14 Pro from 2022, at 1/1.14 inches. For reference, the iPhone 15 Pro/14 Pro sensor is 1/12.8 inches.

The user notes that the camera sensor will be a custom 48-megapixel Sony IMX903 sensor that will be of the stacked type, coming with a 14-bit analog-to-digital converter and digital gain control for a clean image overall.

In theory, all these factors could lead to an overall increase in performance compared to the outgoing model, with better low-light performance, stronger Bokeh and more.

However, it remains to be seen whether this sensor comes to the smaller iPhone 16 Pro or Apple decides to keep it only for the Max variant. Apple is also rumored to be bringing a 5X tetraprism telephoto lens to the smaller iPhone 16 Pro, so this could be Apple’s way of differentiating the Pro Max model from the rest. But that said, these are just rumors right now and should be taken with a grain of salt until Apple announces it at launch. The leaker has a good record of accurately predicting iPhone features.