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Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The iPhone 16 Pro series may have a so-called ALD lens coating.
- This coating reduces lens flare and glare in your photos.
- Xiaomi and OPPO are already using ALD lens coatings, and Sony and vivo are also using similar advanced coatings.
The iPhone 16 series is scheduled to be released in the third quarter of 2024, and there are already plenty of rumors about it. The latest leak suggests that Apple’s new phone could catch up with the best Android camera phones with new lens-related additions.
Korean blogger yeux1122 claims on Naver (h/t: mcroomers) Apple is reportedly testing a new camera lens coating for the iPhone 16 Pro series. More specifically, this is an atomic layer deposition (ALD) lens coating, which the blogger suggests helps reduce lens flare.
The iPhone 15 Pro series also reportedly offers a “nanoscale” coating to reduce lens flare, but online reports suggest the camera is still prone to this problem. Therefore, more advanced lens coatings could help suppress these artifacts and improve overall image quality.
Nothing new for Android smartphones
However, Apple isn’t the first smartphone brand to use ALD lens coatings. Xiaomi was one of the first companies to use this coating on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra in 2022. Since then, it has been used in high-end phones such as Xiaomi 13 Pro, Xiaomi 13 Ultra, Xiaomi 14 and the latest his Xiaomi 14 Ultra. The company has also introduced ALD coatings on much cheaper phones, such as the ~$550 Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus and ~$300 Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G. Xiaomi is not the only Android OEM to use this technology, OPPO’s upper midrange Reno 10 series also has this coating.
We’ve also seen brands like Sony and vivo offer ZEISS’ T* lens coatings to reduce glare. This was very noticeable when comparing the Pixel 7 Pro to the vivo X90 Pro (see image comparison above). Overall he prefers the Pixel images, as the vivo photos are washed out and too sharp, but the light source is so well controlled that the light bulb elements are visible in the vivo images. The red flare on the left side of the Pixel image also disappears in the vivo snap.
So advanced lens coatings are clearly nothing new for some Android manufacturers. Nevertheless, we hope Apple actually adopts this technology, as it will address a long-standing issue for some iPhone owners.
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