The use of plastic lens covers might be replaced by a newer and more advanced technology by Apple called metalens. The company is reportedly bringing this form of a lens to the iPad Pro’s Face ID camera cover, and if it is successful, this component will make its way to iPhones.
Metalens debuting on iPhones may not happen until 2025
The technology appears to be in its early stages, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seems confident in his predictions published in his latest Medium blog post. He states that TSMC and VisEra are ‘critical process suppliers,’ with VisEra expected to be the beneficiary as it partners with Apple to provide this lens technology. Kuo also states that when compared to plastic lenses, metalens is cheaper to mass produce and helps reduce thickness.
This change might suggest that Apple could look to reduce the thickness of its products too, starting with the iPad Pro, and then it could shift focus to the iPhone. However, it appears that the technology giant may not acquire this component in mass supply initially, which could be why the iPad Pro will be the first to debut it in 2024 since Apple’s tablets ship in fewer numbers than iPhones. The Face ID and ToF cover could comprise of metalens from next year.
As for future iPhone models, Kuo believes that the Face ID cover of Apple’s handsets will not feature metalens before 2025 or 2026. Overall, he expects metalens to become a widely adopted component by 2028 to 2030, replacing plastic lenses even on low-end cameras or LiDAR systems. Shortly after this lens shows up in future iPad Pro and iPhone models, Apple might introduce it to its augmented reality glasses, which are said to go into mass production in 2026 or 2027.
However, an earlier report mentioned that Apple had indefinitely postponed its smart glasses development due to technical problems, so we should treat Kuo’s current predictions with a pinch of salt. Then again, Kuo is optimistic that the real growth for metalens adoption will happen when shipments of the glasses form of mixed-reality head-mounted devices pick up globally. Considering that Apple is reported to have delayed its AR headset to Q3 2023, it will take a while for this product category to popularize.
News Source: Ming-Chi Kuo
