The Apple rumoursphere is deeply divided on a fundamental question: in the autumn, will we get an iPhone 13 with lots of significant improvements, or an iPhone 12s with very few?
If Apple is to convince us that this year’s new handsets are worth making the upgrade, one of the key areas to focus on is the camera – where again pundits are split between the theories of big upgrades and largely the same. Yet a new report from the Taiwanese outlet DigiTimes (subscription required) predicts that the company has at least one improvement up its sleeve for this department: it will add sensor-shift optical image stabilisation (OIS) across all models of late-2021 iPhone.
It’s important to note that this isn’t a new feature for the iPhone line; rather it’s an expansion of an existing feature to a wider array of phones. All of Apple’s current iPhones offer OIS of some description, but at the moment, sensor-shift OIS is only offered with the top-of-the-line iPhone 12 Pro Max – and even then, on the wide-angle lens only.
The purpose of the feature is to stabilise the sensor instead of the lens. This way, your photos will be steady, even when your hand is not. The technology originally comes from professional DSLRs, but has been available in mobile cameras for some time.
Nor in fact is the rumour entirely new; it was proposed earlier this week by the Korean-language site ETNews. But corroboration by the widely cited DigiTimes adds credibility to the theory.
For the latest leaks and rumours concerning the late-2021 iPhone update, visit our regularly updated iPhone 13 news hub. If you’re more interested in the current range, meanwhile, visit our roundup of the best iPhone deals for the latest bargains.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation by David Price.
