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12MP Front-Facing Cameras

All three 2019 iPhones (including this year’s successor to the iPhone XR) will feature 12-megapixel sensors in their front-facing cameras, Kuo wrote in his research note. That’s a major upgrade from the current 7MP cameras on current Apple handsets.

The bump in megapixels will, obviously, significantly boost photo resolution for the front-facing cameras. Presumably, the additional information the lens will be able to capture could aid in augmented reality applications as well.

This is actually the second time Kuo has predicted that 12MP front-facing iPhone cameras are coming this year. Since he’s doubling-down on the forecast, the upgraded “selfie shooters” seem pretty likely.

Triple and Dual-Lens Upgrades

In his latest research note, Kuo also corroborated past camera upgrade rumors. Apple’s two OLED handsets, for example, are largely expected to adopt triple-lens cameras, while Apple’s 6.1-inch LCD handset this year is rumored to gain a dual-lens setup.

On the triple-lens iPhones, Kuo says there will be a 12MP telephoto lens, a 12MP wide-angle lens, and a 12MP super-wide-angle lens (supplied by Sony).

Kuo didn’t say whether the 6.1-inch iPhone XR successor will adopt a super-wide-angle or telephoto lens as part of its dual-lens upgrade. But, presumably, it’ll be the latter. In any case, Kuo says that camera upgrades are likely to be the upcoming iPhones’ major selling point.

Specialized Black Coating

Kuo also indicated that at least some of the camera lenses on the upcoming iPhones will feature specialized “black lens-coating technologies,” which will make the lenses appear more “inconspicuous.”

The coating, which has been hinted at before, could help the lenses blend into the bezels of the device better. That’s probably a good thing, since the apparent design for the 2019 iPhone lineup has proven to be fairly controversial.

To accommodate the triple-lens design, Apple is said to be changing the shape and size of the camera housing to a relatively obtrusive square-shaped bump, which a lot of people have called ugly.

While the squarish camera bump isn’t set in stone, the design has been corroborated by a handful of leaks, case moldings, and apparent components out of Apple’s supply chain.

In addition to the coating, a past report also suggested that Apple could also use a new rear glass panel design — with an integrated camera bump — to make the bump on the new iPhones appear less clunky.

2019 iPhone Release Date

Kuo predicted that the Cupertino tech giant is likely to debut its trio of iPhones at a keynote event in September. Of course, that won’t be much of a surprise to those familiar with Apple’s release schedule.