iPhone 16 Series Camera Features Tipped; Pro Models May Support 4K 120 FPS Recording

The iPhone 16 series is expected to be unveiled at the “It's Glowtime” Apple event on September 9. The lineup is expected to include a base iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max variants. Rumoured phone details have surfaced online over the past few weeks, suggesting anticipated design elements and expected specifications. A new report suggests some camera features the iPhone 16 Pro handsets may launch with, including video recording improvements.

iPhone 16 Series Camera Features (Expected)

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max handsets may feature 48-megapixel rear camera sensors with ultra-wide lenses, according to a 9to5Mac report. Both handsets are also tipped to support tetraprism lens with 5x optical zoom, while in the existing iPhone 15 series, only the Pro Max model carries one.

The report added that the Pro variants of the iPhone 16 lineup may also support 4K video recording at 120 frames per second (FPS). Users will likely be able to record ProRes 4K at 120 FPS when connected to an external storage. It is unclear if this feature will be available on all cameras on the handsets.

For comparison, the iPhone 15 supports 4K recording at 60 FPS. QuickTake recordings on these devices may also support 4K resolution, which can be an upgrade from the current 1080p support.

Notably, Android smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, and the Vivo X100 Ultra currently support 4K video recording at 120 FPS.

Apple has reportedly tested 8K video recording on the wide and ultra-wide lenses of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The rumoured 48-megapixel sensors as well as the A18 Pro chipsets, are expected to support this resolution quality. However, the report noted that 8K recordings may be introduced with the iPhone 17 lineup instead.

The report added that the iPhone 16 series of smartphones may launch with support for JPEG-XL format. The camera app may also pause and resume a video recording feature, remove wind noise in videos, introduce new photographic styles with better machine learning to preserve skin tones and introduce new spatial photo capturing modes for viewing 3D on Apple Vision Pro. 

The report adds that the rumoured Camera Button on the iPhone 16 handsets may work with third-party apps alongside the native Camera app. The touch-sensitive button is expected to allow multiple camera controls. A soft press may trigger auto-focus, while a hard press takes photos or starts video recording. Meanwhile, sliding motions could be used to adjust exposure or zoom levels.