Apple allegedly purchased the Israeli based company, LinX. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple scooped up LinX for a hefty $20 million.
LinX creates high-tech miniature cameras with multi-aperture capabilities. These camera modules host a variety of high-end effects, such as depth perception, and offer DSLR quality in a unit that is much smaller than any DSLR camera. LinX states on their website that their cameras also “allow Apps to freely use the 3D information captured by our camera to achieve amazing new features such as the ability to refocus an image after it has been captured, measurement of the true dimensions of objects, 3D object modeling and real time background replacement for video calls.”
Apple has purchased many smaller companies in the past and rarely discusses plans for them. Based solely on what LinX is capable of, we can assume these camera modules will be placed on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus which have not been officially announced.
There are also reports that LinX camera modules are much smaller than the ones currently available on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. A smaller camera module would allow Apple to nix the protruding camera lens that often troubles users.
An iPhone that could produce DSLR like image capabilities would be a revolution in photography. If Apple’s iPhone release schedule remains the same, we will know more details about LinX camera modules and the iPhone 6s the closer we get to September.