The iPhone 7 may be months away from release but speculations around it have started to build thick. Now, a new Apple patent application has hinted that the upcoming flagship smartphone would come with a revolutionary camera, capable of taking great quality pictures with use of mirrors to improve optical image stabilization (OIS).
The Cupertino giant is yet to reveal the release date of its next-generation smartphone, the iPhone 7, but reports that have appeared so far have pointed to a September release, and it sounds logical as the iPhone 6 will complete a year cycle in the market by that time.
Interestingly, a new Apple patent application titled "Mirror Tilt Actuation" was published by the US Patent and Trademark Office this week and it's been obtained by AppleInsider. The patent filing reveals use of image sensors for small devices like the iPhone to improve picture quality, reported the website, adding that "OIS adjusts the direction of the field of view of the camera to compensate for user motion."
"Some embodiments include an image sensor and a zoom lens assembly including a plurality of movable lens elements arranged to be moved independent of one another," reads the patent filing. "The lens and mirror assembly includes a mirror for folding the path of light from the optical axis of the first lens to the optical axis of the plurality of movable lens elements, and the lens and mirror assembly further includes an actuator for tilting the mirror."
The patent filing with application number 14/043655 is credited to inventors Chan, Ning Y. (Palo Alto, CA, US), Topliss, Richard J. (Campbell, CA, US), and Webster, Steven (Palo Alto, CA, US). It was filed on 1 October, 2013 and got published on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 12 February, 2015.
Not much has been leaked on the iPhone 7 specifications but John Gruber had claimed on one of The Talk Show (via The Tech Block) episodes that Apple was working on its upcoming smartphone's camera capable of taking high quality pictures.
The iPhone 7 is expected to come with features like sapphire crystal glass, 14MP main camera and 4MP front snapper, chassis made of liquid metal, and 2GB RAM, according to EMSOne (via TechnoBuffalo). It is also expected to be powered by A9 chip.
