Apple could adopt 200MP camera for iPhone, leapfrog Samsung in the process

Motorola and Samsung were the first smartphone makers to adopt 200MP cameras, and we’ve since seen companies like Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO, and HONOR adopting this tech too. However, a long-time leaker has now claimed that iPhones could be next in line.

Tipster Digital Chat Station claimed on Weibo that Apple is evaluating a 200MP camera sensor, citing “reliable sources from the supply chain.” Check out the machine-translated post below.

Furthermore, the 200MP camera in question is a 1/1.12-inch sensor, suggesting that it’s the recently announced Sony LYT-901. Vivo has already confirmed that the upcoming X300 Ultra will use this sensor for its primary camera. Meanwhile, OPPO is expected to use it as the main camera on its Find X9 Ultra. Digital Chat Station confirmed in a follow-up comment that Apple was indeed testing this sensor on the main camera.

In any event, a 200MP 1/1.12-inch camera sensor would be significantly larger than the 200MP 1/1.3-inch main camera seen in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. A larger sensor enables greater light intake, which means brighter, more detailed photos with less noise. A larger 200MP sensor should also reduce blur in low-light situations, as the increased light intake means the camera shutter doesn’t have to stay open as long.

A 200MP main camera would also enable lossless resolution zoom up to 4x. Companies like Samsung also let you take full-resolution 200MP snaps, allowing you to crop after the fact and still get a high-resolution image. But a mid-range telephoto camera (3x to 5x) would still be welcome for higher quality zoom at longer focal lengths.

It seems like Apple is merely testing this 200MP sensor for now. So there’s no guarantee that it will actually offer this tech in a commercial iPhone. Nevertheless, the tipster suggests that it will debut next year. That means it might arrive on the iPhone 19 series. However, phones like the vivo X300 Ultra are starting to embrace rear camera systems with two 200MP cameras (including the telephoto lens). So Android OEMs aren’t standing still by any means when it comes to camera phones.