iPhone 8 is expected to incorporate many new technologies that would make it the first one to do so in the industry. Adding to that, a new report claims that Apple will be bringing new 3D sensing modules to the iPhone 8’s camera that will supposedly enhance the AR capabilities of the iPhone.
Until now, the most exciting part of the iPhone 8 was its screen. A number of leaks had suggested that the phone will come with a bezel-less display with no bezel on any of the sides. There will be a large cut out on the top that would be used to place the earpiece, sensors, front facing dual cameras. But this 3D sensing tech is giving the iPhone 8 a whole new dimension, quite literally.
According to BlueFin Research Partners, Finisar and Lumentum have been chosen to supply 3D sensing modules for the iPhone 8, while Broadcom will be providing the wireless charging components. The news comes via Barron’s that calls the tenth-anniversary Apple phone iPhone X.
LoupVentures reported that Finisar made remarks during the recent quarterly earnings report that suggested the company would be “one of two or three suppliers” of vertical-cavity-surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) in the iPhone 8. Largan Precision also confirmed last week that it will be shipping lenses for 3D sensing modules in the second of 2017. It refrained from directly mentioning the Apple iPhone 8.
During the recent WWDC event, Apple had detailed its plans for Augmented Reality (AR) and released its ARKit for developers to build apps and services around it. As the company demonstrated, the scope of AR can be huge and it can be put to use in a variety of ways.
The report by LoupVentures further adds that the low-end VCSEL will be used in the front-facing camera of the iPhone 8, while the high-end VCSEL will be used for the rear-facing cameras. The iPhone 8 has been long rumoured to come with a dual camera setup on the back, but dual cameras on the front are also being suggested.
With VCSEL incorporated in both front and rear cameras, either of the cameras could be used for AR experiences. Moreover, current facial recognition tech uses the 2D image to recognise the face, with this new implementation, a layer of security and accuracy will be added.