Apple’s Plan For Periscope Cameras On iPhones Reportedly Halted Due To Samsung Patents

Rumours suggesting that Apple may be planning to include a periscope camera on future iPhone models have been circulating around since last year. Now, a recent report by The Elec has revealed that the company might be facing an issue to achieve this purported goal.

According to the South Korean news outlet, Apple allegedly planned to have its periscope camera to come with a ball actuator, a mechanism used to move the module’s interior lenses. However, this technological innovation is patented by rival smartphone maker Samsung, who’ve also featured the mechanism in the imaging systems featured on its flagship products, including this year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra.

The iPhone maker was expected to acquire the periscope camera modules from its long-time supplier LG InnoTek, The Elec reports. But this route may not be favourable for Apple, as the supplier procures its ball actuators from Samsung Electro-Mechanics – a move that will result in the Cupertino-based company to pay Samsung a patent license fee in order to use the technology for its future smartphone releases.

Similarly, the publication added that the same issue also plagued Apple’s decision to procure a potentially new optical image stabilisation (OIS) module by Jahwa Electronics. According to The Elec, the supplier raised concerns that it may not be able to supply the iPhone maker with the technology, due to the fact that it was co-developed together with Samsung and its Samsung Electro-Mechanics subsidiary.

With several obstructions being in the way, Apple is reportedly seeking alternatives to bypass the problem. It is suggested that the company is considering to either change the design of its periscope camera module altogether in order to avoid using the patented technology, or simply pay the patent license fee to Samsung.

Regardless, it will still take a while until we actually see a periscope camera on an iPhone, as it is said to only debut in 2023. But as always, such reports regarding this are unofficial at this current time, so be sure to take these rumours with a nice pinch of salt.

Apple’s Next Launch Event To Take Place On 14 September

For the past week or two, there have been rampant rumours claiming that Apple has planned to have a special launch event this month. True enough, the company has just officially announced the date for its next event.

According to the media invite as well as its US website, the event is scheduled to take place at 10:00 AM PDT on 14 September which is equivalent to 1:00 AM Malaysia time on 15 September. This round of Apple’s special event will once again take place virtually as the threat of COVID-19 is still at large throughout the world.

Greg Joswiak, the company’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing tweeted a short clip to mark the occasion. The clip is essentially a demonstration of the AR feature that you can activate through your iPhone and iPad by tapping the glowing Apple logo on the event section of Apple US website.

It is really hard to guess what Apple is trying to hint through the images and AR easter egg that accompanied today’s announcement. However, the “California streaming” tagline does remind us of a very famous song from the 1960s, California Dreamin’ which was made famous by The Mamas and The Papas.

At the moment, among new products that are expected to be revealed at the upcoming event includes iPhone 13 (or iPhone 12s, depending on who you ask), Apple Watch Series 7, and next-generation AirPods. Expect to hear more rumours as they make their way into the Internet, now that there is only one week to go before the event takes place.