Tim Cook Reveals That iPhones Use Sony Camera Sensors, Confirms Decade-Long Partnership

iPhone 15 series have been tipped to feature state-of-the-art Sony image sensors.

Written by Siddhant Chandra, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 13 December 2022 18:06 IST

Tim Cook Reveals That iPhones Use Sony Camera Sensors, Confirms Decade-Long Partnership

Photo Credit: Apple

Apple tends to only mention the resolution, aperture, more generic information of the camera

Highlights

Sony was rumoured to have provided camera sensors for previous iPhones
Tim Cook took a tour of Kumamoto facility with Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida
Sony yet to put iPhone 15 camera sensors into production

Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted in a recent tweet that the Cupertino company has used Sony image sensors in the iPhone for over a decade. This is a rare confirmation from Apple regarding the specific components featured on its devices. Specifications for the company's iPhone models usually only include the camera resolution, aperture, and other generic information. There have been several rumours over the years suggesting that Sony was providing camera sensors for the iPhone. Even the iPhone 15 is expected to include a state-of-the-art image sensor from Sony.

Cook shared a tweet on Tuesday revealing that Sony has been providing the camera sensors for the iPhone for over a decade. It also included an image of Cook on a tour of the Kumamoto facility along with Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida. This admission has seemingly laid rest to the plethora of rumours speculating that the iPhone used Sony camera sensors.

We've been partnering with Sony for over a decade to create the world's leading camera sensors for iPhone. Thanks to Ken and everyone on the team for showing me around the cutting-edge facility in Kumamoto today. pic.twitter.com/462SEkUbhi
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 13, 2022

According to a recent report, the iPhone 15 series could boast a state-of-the-art image Sony image sensor. It is said to be capable of capturing a person's face clearly even against bright backlighting. Sony has reportedly included double the saturation signal level in each pixel than conventional sensors.

This rumoured Sony camera sensor can reportedly capture increased light and reduce overexposure or underexposure. However, Sony is yet to put these sensors into production. They will reportedly be manufactured at the company's Nagasaki plant. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 15 series in the second half of 2023.

Sony reportedly controlled around 44 percent of the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor market in 2021, meanwhile, Samsung came second with 18.5 percent. The company has is said to have planned to spend about JPY 900 billion (roughly Rs. 54,000 crore) throughout 2023 in the hopes of gaining control of about 60 percent of the CMOS image sensor market by 2025.

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Further reading: iPhone, Apple, Sony, Tim Cook

Siddhant Chandra Email Siddhant Chandra

Siddhant Chandra is a Consultant Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. This is his first foray into the tech space, having made the switch from travel. He holds a keen interest in keeping up with the latest hardware and software developments in the gaming industry. After work, you can mostly find him playing CS:GO with his buds, where he has clocked over 3K hours. You can reach him at siddhantc@ndtv.com. More