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Sony CEO Lets Slip That iPhone 5 Will Have 8MP Camera

Posted by timothy on from the no-such-thing-as-a-true-leak-anymore dept.

An anonymous reader writes "During a recent interview with Walt Mossberg, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer may have inadvertently let it slip that Sony plans to supply Apple with 8 megapixel cameras for the next-gen iPhone. While discussing the Japanese earthquake, Stringer noted that Sony's camera sensor plant in Sendai had been affected and that shipments of 8 megapixel camera sensors to Apple were subsequently delayed."

7 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah, but.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who cares?

  2. Good Lord by matty619 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is news?

  3. I don't buy it by abhi_beckert · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This rumor isn't credible. 8MP is a bad idea unless you make the lens and sensor bigger. The trouble is, as you increase the megapixels you reduce the amount of light the sensor can collect. Creating significantly poorer photos in low light conditions and slightly poorer photos in normal conditions.

    If you have a huge lens and sensor, like some phones and like a point-and-shoot camera then 8MP (or more) is a great idea. But apple isn't likely to do either of those.

    They already made the lens and sensor about as good as they could in the iPhone 4. I think we're a long time away from seeing an 8MP iPhone camera.

    1. Re:I don't buy it by damnfuct · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wish more people understood this rather than "MOAR MEGGAPIXALS MEENS MOAR BETTAR"

    2. Re:I don't buy it by doctor_no · · Score: 5, Informative

      There have been a lot of technology advancements that dramatically increase the amount of light each photosite can collect. The biggest is BSI (back side illuminated) sensors which can double the amount of light that gets captured per photosite. We are also moving to high-dynamic range, high-speed, and pixel-binning CMOS technology that can combine signal data from multiple photosites into one.

      http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2011/02/sony-announces-12mp-155um-pixel-bsi.html

      In general you will get better quality from a larger sensor, all things being equal, but technology has moved considerably forward. 1~2 micron photosites (that are common in cellphones) can easily handle 8MPs. But don't expect it to take the same quality as a dSLR (or even the larger sensored point and shoots).

  4. Re:LOL. nokia n8 has 12mpx, pixon has 12mpx since by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You do realize, that other than raw numbers, megapixels have very little to do with final quality?

  5. Sony is in bed with Apple? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I care because I didn't know that Sony supplied components to Apple. Maybe I have just been living in a cave or something....but I didn't know.

    And now that I DO know, Apple is on my do-not-buy list.

    I hate Sony THAT much. And you should too.