iPhone 6s said to bring 12MP sensor, 4K video recording, and improved FaceTime camera

iPhone 6 gray silver gold back camera

A lot has been said thus far about “the biggest camera jump ever” expected to grace Apple’s upcoming ‘iPhone 6s’ and ‘iPhone 6s Plus’ smartphones. A report Thursday by 9to5Mac attempts to bring Apple’s next-generation camera technology into full view.

According to sources who spoke with author Mark Gurman, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will introduce “a major revamp” to the camera system that ostensibly includes a twelve-megapixel iSight sensor out the back that can capture video in full 4K resolution, in addition to a simple software trick designed to bring flash support to the FaceTime camera out the front.

Twelve megapixels

Marking a significant upgrade from the eight-megapixel sensor which was first introduced on the iPhone 4s back in October 2011, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus camera should have fifty percent more pixels to capture finer detail.

Helping out the new sensor is an upgraded image signal processor within the Apple-designed ‘A9’ chip said to power new iPhones and iPads. “The new sensor will not wash out or otherwise decrease the quality of photos,” according to 9to5Mac.

4K video capture

The upcoming phones will be the first iPhones capable of recording video in full 4K resolution. Again, significantly greater pixel count versus the full HD video capture on current iPhones will result in much sharper videos that should look stellar on 4K TV sets.

FaceTime camera gets an upgrade, too

The front-facing camera which Apple refers to as FaceTime is about to see significant improvements in the imaging department. The current front-facing sensor captures video in 720p—enough to warrant branding the FaceTime camera with the HD suffix. However, it takes grainy still images at a paltry 1.3-megapixel resolution.

While 9to5Mac doesn’t divulge specifics, the author says there’ll be “an upgraded sensor for higher quality video calls and selfies”. Other rumors have indicated that the front-facing camera will see a major resolution jump to five megapixels and 1080p video capture.

iPhone 6 Retina HD

As for front flash support, Apple won’t be adding the actual LED flash to the iSight camera but will rather use a trick borrowed from Snapchat and Photo Booth where the screen flashes white when the shutter is pressed in order to illuminate the subject.

“Front-facing panorama shots and slow motion video in 720P are also likely to make it to the front camera this fall,” the report wraps up.

Who’s looking forward to sprucing up their photography skills with new iPhones?

Source: 9to5Mac