Next year's iPhone may use a rear triple-lens camera to replace ToF sensing technology

According to market rumors, the iPhone that Apple will launch next year may use a rear 3D sensing module to achieve augmented reality (AR) imaging, with Time of Flight (ToF) as the main sensing technology. However, according to a report by Deutsche Securities, Apple will replace ToF technology with three lenses.

Lu Jialin, a technology industry analyst at Deutsche Securities, said that there is a high probability that AR imaging will become a major specification of the iPhone in 2019. The market predicts that the iPhone will be equipped with a rear 3D sensing module using ToF, but according to the team's investigation, it is not believed that Apple will adopt ToF. Instead, it will adopt three-lens imaging, including two camera lenses using stereo vision technology and a telephoto lens for zooming.

According to Deutsche Bank, Apple's mobile phone camera module supply chain includes Largan, Sony, Sharp, LG Innotek and Alps. Among them, Largan mainly supplies camera lenses and has the opportunity to become a beneficiary of the iPhone's expanded use of three lenses.

Cheng Sheng-jung, head of the research department of Merrill Lynch Taiwan, believes that the iPhone 3D sensing module is more likely to adopt ToF next year, but does not rule out upgrading to three lenses to enhance the zoom function.

Currently, ToF and structured light are the two main 3D sensing technologies. Lu Jialin believes that there is a third possibility, which is stereoscopic vision. The difference between this technology and the first two is that two or more camera modules are used to capture images of a single object from different angles, and then the distance between the device and the object is obtained by triangulation. It has the advantages of power saving and long-term outdoor operation, and is widely used in 3D cameras, AR/VR devices and robotics.