Kuo: iPhone 13 is now more likely to get an upgraded ultra wide camera with improved low light performance

The iPhone 13 is now more likely to feature an improved Ultra Wide camera, with significantly improved performance in low light, thanks to improved lens verification and increased competition in Apple’s supply chain, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In its latest TFI Securities investor note, seen by MacRumors, Kuo says that the verification of the iPad 5P lens of the Chinese supplier Sunny Optical went smoothly and he learned a lot from the process, which means that the probability that he will deliver a 7P wide-angle lens for ‌iPhone 13‌ significantly increased.

Kuo expects Sunny to begin mass deliveries of its ‌iPad‌ 5P lens in the middle of the first quarter of 2021, supplying Apple with about 15% of these parts due to limited initial production capacity. The report does not specify the ‌iPad‌ model for which the 5P target is intended, but expects the delivery rate of both the 5P and 7P targets to continue to increase between 15-20% and 25-30% in 2022.

According to Kuo, Sunny Optical’s increased competition will also put pressure on Largan, which is currently fueling a price war due to its significant technological advantages over other iPhone lens suppliers.

In November, Kuo predicted that the Ultra Wide cameras on the two high-end models, the iPhone 13, would be significantly upgraded to f / 1.8, 6P (six-element lens) with autofocus. All current ‌iPhone 12‌ models are equipped with Ultra Wide f / 2.4, 5P (five-element lens) cameras with fixed focus.

However, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Thomas O’Malley have since suggested that all four ‌iPhone 13 feature models will have a modernized Ultra Wide camera lens with a larger aperture ƒ / 1.8, so there is information contradictory as to exactly how many models will achieve the goal of modernization. Kuo expects the updated Ultra Wide lens to extend to the rest of the iconic “iPhone” line in the second half of 2022.