Apple could use curved photosensors to product smaller iPhone cameras

A new Apple patent reveals the Cupertino company could soon employ curved photosensors to create smaller iPhone cameras that capture better photos. The design could help Apple in its mission to make future smartphones even thinner.
Published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week, “Small form factor high-resolution camera” describes a cutting-edge mobile camera module that uses complex optics to deliver a more compact footprint and even better performance.
Apple explains how the sensor could refract light through a trio of special lenses onto a concave surface, resulting in a sharp, low-distortion image. The company also notes that the curved array limits diffraction, allowing the use of a smaller sensor with smaller pixels.
“To correct for diffraction and visual aberrations that propagate within miniature cameras, the proposed lens system includes three lenses, two of which are convex or substantially convex,” explains AppleInsider. “A third meniscus lens, or a lens with opposing convex and concave surfaces, is situated between the first two lens elements and the spherical photosensor.”
The design does have its limitations, however, such as barrel distortion. Apple describes how it might use software to correct unwanted effects like this.
Such sensors could allow Apple to make the iPhone thinner, or ensure future sensors sit flush with the handset’s case — rather than protruding out of it like they do with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. It could also lead to better cameras in the iPad, and even cameras in devices like Apple Watch.
But as always, Apple patents are never a guarantee of things to come, so this particular invention may never see the light of day.
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