{"id":396848,"date":"2026-01-29T12:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/396848\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T12:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:26:18","slug":"the-next-iphone-could-use-a-telephoto-extender-to-out-zoom-galaxy-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/396848\/","title":{"rendered":"The next iPhone could use a telephoto extender to out-zoom Galaxy phones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vivo<\/p>\n

Hadlee Simons \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

TL;DR<\/p>\n

A leaker has claimed that Apple is testing telephoto converter lenses, ostensibly for the iPhone 18 Pro line.
\nVivo and OPPO debuted these new-generation add-on lenses, which can dramatically improve long-range camera zoom.
\nThe Galaxy S7 phones supported a 2x add-on lens back in 2016, but the Galaxy maker hasn\u2019t adopted these new lenses just yet.<\/p>\n

The vivo X200 Ultra<\/a> was the first Android phone to offer the new generation of telephoto extender lenses<\/a>, and subsequent vivo and OPPO flagships support these add-on lenses too. These accessories attach to the phone\u2019s telephoto camera to improve long-range zoom. Now, Apple could also be testing this tech for the iPhone 18 Pro series.<\/p>\n

Weibo leaker Smart Pikachu<\/a> reported that Apple<\/a> is evaluating teleconverter lenses, with an accompanying hashtag suggesting that this could land on the iPhone 18 Pro series. Check out the machine-translated post below.<\/p>\n

\"iPhone<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/a><\/p>\n

Smart Pikachu didn\u2019t reveal more details about the type of teleconverter lenses Apple is testing, but recent history suggests this could enable higher-quality camera zoom at long range. Vivo\u2019s telephoto extender lens is a 2.35x teleconverter, effectively converting the X200 Ultra and X300 Pro\u2019s 85mm (3.7x) periscope camera into a 200mm (~8.3x) shooter. Meanwhile, the OPPO Find X9 Pro extender lens<\/a> is a 3.28x teleconverter, basically turning the 70mm (3x) periscope camera into a 230mm (~10x) shooter. Both companies can also use lossless-resolution cropping to offer higher quality ~16x and ~20x photos, respectively. The results speak for themselves, as seen below.<\/p>\n

This does make us wonder why Samsung<\/a> hasn\u2019t jumped on this bandwagon just yet. The Galaxy S7 series actually offered an add-on lens back in 2016 that delivered 2x zoom, but the company hasn\u2019t released a new-generation telephoto extender just yet.<\/p>\n

We can think of a few reasons why Samsung hasn\u2019t adopted this tech yet. These lenses are quite cumbersome, so it\u2019s possible the Galaxy maker doesn\u2019t think the added bulk justifies the improved image quality. It\u2019s also worth noting that these lenses aren\u2019t cheap and usually cost a few hundred euros. Furthermore, the attached telephoto extender actually blocks the other rear cameras, so you\u2019re forced to remove the lens (and the adapter ring in OPPO\u2019s case) if you\u2019d like to take 1x and ultrawide snaps.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, we\u2019d love to see both Google and Samsung release optional telephoto extenders on their phones. Better yet, I\u2019d like to see lenses and adapter rings that actually support multiple smartphone makers. This way, you can switch to a phone from another brand without abandoning your old phone\u2019s add-on lens.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hadlee Simons \/ Android Authority TL;DR A leaker has claimed that Apple is testing telephoto converter lenses, ostensibly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[304,87515,4662,2306,6487,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-396848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-apple-iphone-18","10":"tag-camera","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-photography","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}