The iPhone 15 Pro Max stands out from the rest this year, thanks in large part to its periscopic lens, which takes last year’s 3x optical zoom to 5x this year. However, Samsung’s main rival, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, offers 10x optical zoom. Why doesn’t the latest flagship iPhone do the same?

Apple says there are three reasons for this. I can say that one of these is a weak argument, the other is moderately convincing, and the third is a lethal argument…

Apple presented its case to a French website my number In an interview with John McCormack, vice president of photo software development, and Maxim Veron, senior director of iPhone marketing.

People almost never use 10x magnification

The weakest of the three arguments given is that it is an unusual focal length.

“When you look at the history of photography, the magical beach is the 24-70 lens. You see the world wide and up close.” Apple opts to offer excellent x0.5, x1, x2 (digital) views rather than letting you go too far without closer focal lengths when used most of the time.

To be frank, Apple is absolutely right about this. A 10x zoom on a DSLR would be a 120mm lens, which isn’t something most photographers own, let alone use regularly. The company is also right that the 24-70mm lens is the most popular digital SLR zoom lens that stays attached to my cameras 95% of the time.

But that alone is no reason not to offer a 10x increase. There’s an additional factor that applies to camera phone lenses: shallow depth of field. The smaller the sensor, the longer the lens you need to create the optical bokeh ideal for portrait photos, and in this regard the 10x optical zoom on the iPhone is not excessive.

Of course, the iPhone’s artificial bokeh is much more convincing than before, but optics still trump digital.

10x optical zoom is difficult to balance

This is a stronger argument.

X5 magnification is something we can balance incredibly well. When you look at the x10 zoom it is really difficult to use unless you have the steadiest hands in the world or a tripod. When we think about creating a feature we always ask ourselves: “Who will use this?”

Even with a DSLR lens with advanced optical image stabilization, you’ll likely need to place the camera on a tripod (or at least a monopod) for a 120mm shot.

Aperture trumps zoom

Tim’s best comment

You only need one: because the jump from 1x to 10 would be too big. Everything from 1x to 9.9x will be digital only.

But Apple’s best argument, and what I see as the most important argument in this case, is that limiting the phone to 5x optical zoom allows you to use a much wider aperture lens. And they can’t add a fourth camera without completely changing the camera design.

Our zoom opens at f/2.8, which gives us excellent light control.

This compares to the f/4.9 aperture on the Samsung S23. big Again, if you look at the world of digital SLRs, you’ll see that wide aperture is what makes the difference between a long lens costing hundreds of pounds and a lens costing thousands of dollars with the same range.

Yep, give me the choice between a 5x optical zoom at f/2.8 and a 10x optical zoom at f/4.9 and I always choose the former. Source