Agreement on a zero percent profit; Apple buys the iPhone 15 Pro Max periscope lens for only four dollars

A leaker claims that while the cost of periscope lenses is roughly five dollars or more, Apple pays four dollars for each unit of these lenses.

One of the most important features of the iPhone 15 Pro Max will likely be the camera equipped with a periscope lens. This type of lens makes the optical zoom (without loss of quality) offered by the iPhone much greater. Rumors suggest that the optical zoom of the iPhone 15 Pro Max will reach 10x, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max offers a 3x zoom.

Ming-Chi Kuo, a reputable analyst, says in an exclusive report that Apple pays only four dollars to Largan for each periscope lens. Periscope lenses are priced around four and a half to five dollars on average and even higher. Kuo says the four-dollar price means that “Largan cannot profit from the periscope camera lens.”

Periscope lenses are not a new concept in the mobile world, and companies like Samsung and Xiaomi have gone down this path for years. A prism is used in the periscope lens to achieve a significant optical zoom without excessively increasing the thickness of the lens (and therefore the thickness of the phone).

According to the report by 9to5Mac, periscope lens is expected to be exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro Max. Maybe next year, iPhone 16 Pro will be equipped with this lens alongside the Pro Max model. Apple usually supplies the iPhone camera lens through two companies, Largan and Genius, but this year it will only use Largan lenses.