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According to a South Korean platform called Naver, Apple is working on a new anti-reflective coating technology called ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) for the camera lenses in iPhone 16. This new technology will reportedly reduce the lens flare, which is one of the noticeable issues of an iPhone’s camera system.
What is lens flare?
For those unfamiliar with the term lens flare, it is basically an unwanted scattering of light caused by its reflection on the lens surface on its way to the sensor. It becomes noticeable when you shoot a bright light source in the middle of a darker background, such as the moon in the night sky.
The iPhone 16 Pro could get an ALD coating to reduce lens flare
The tipster claims that this news comes from a source within Apple’s supply chain. As MacRumors notes, this deposition technology creates an extremely thin single atomic layer on a surface. In this case, it might be necessary to maintain the optical characteristics of the camera lenses. Notably, this is a commonly used technique to create anti-reflective lenses for cameras and smartphones. Since the ALD coating process deposits the same amount of material on all surfaces with 100% cover, it becomes an effective method for the purpose.
This coating works by reducing the reflective index of the lens surface and in turn, minimizing the reflections. Less reflected light hitting the sensor means fewer artifacts (such as lens flare) in the image.
Another problem of the iPhone 16 that Apple aims to solve with this ALD coating is ghosting. This is a type of image distortion where faint secondary images appear in the photo, especially near the boundaries of the frame. Ghosting also occurs due to the light reflecting back and forth between the lenses and ultimately hitting the sensor, making the image somewhat hazy.
Only the Pro models could get the ALD coating
This appears to be one of the few notable changes to the iPhone 16 series. Last year, Apple kept the Grade 5 titanium frame exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. According to the report, this new addition to the camera system will also remain exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro models.
Speaking of the other camera improvements, the iPhone 16 Pro models will offer an additional multi-step button dedicated to the camera. Like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, this year’s Pro model will also get the 5x tetraprism camera module. Additionally, tipster “Digital Chat Station” (translated) suggests that the iPhone 16 Pro may also boast a slightly larger 1/1.14″ sensor for the main camera as compared to the predecessor’s 1/1.28″ one.
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