Apple plans to include an important camera feature on the iPhone 15 Ultra as a competitor to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Last week, rumors surfaced that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will surpass Apple’s iPhone in the camera area in terms of zoom capabilities. New rumors surfaced today that the iPhone 15 Ultra will feature camera technology to rival the next Samsung Galaxy flagship.

According to Revengus, known for Apple leaks, the iPhone 15 Ultra will come with a telephoto camera with a variable zoom lens. It was said that this camera feature will also be included in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Considered one of the best phones on the market right now, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra already has two telephoto cameras, but its successor is expected to replace the 3x and 10x lenses with a single telephoto sensor with an interchangeable system that allows it to move optically. By contrast, the iPhone 14 Pro Max can only optically zoom up to 3x, so rumors that the iPhone 15 Ultra will add any variable optical zoom lens are particularly important to Apple.

Variable optical zoom cameras are an extremely rare feature among modern smartphones. As we mentioned above, the Sony Xperia 1 IV has one, but it can only zoom between 3.5x and 5.2x. So if both Samsung and Apple manage to add variable zoom lenses (fine-pitch) to their upcoming flagships, the ranking of the best camera phones could change drastically.