Apple hasn’t been the biggest kid on the block bragging about the internals used in the iPhones. Apple has been well known for their excellent, yet simple-to-use cameras that take amazing shots for a smartphone. With the recent launch of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, both cameras has been revamped according to Apple with the iPhone 7 Plus being the more intriguing option of the two. Sporting dual camera sensors on the back, the iPhone 7 has been blamed of being late to the party, although their implementation of dual cameras are pretty good.
In a recent teardown by ChipWorks, they revealed that the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus iSight cameras were actually sourced by Sony. And this isn’t anything new for iPhones.
Regarding the details of the camera sensor used in the iPhone 7, they confirmed that the camera uses Sony’s Exmor RS sensor from 2015.
The iSight camera chip was sourced from Sony and fabricated using its Exmor RS technology platform.  The 12 MP chip features a Bayer RGB color filter array (CFA) and embedded phase detection autofocus (PDAF) pixels. The die size is 5.16 mm x 6.25 mm (32.3 mm2) as measured from the edges of the die stack. We expect our planned analysis will show the CMOS image sensor (CIS) die to be fabricated by Sony in its 90 nm technology generation.  The through silicon via (TSV) patterning tells us it’s a 2nd generation Exmor RS sensor and not 3rd generation Exmor RS with direct bond interconnect (DBI). (Source)
With Android smartphones having a head to head battle against the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the competition is definitely tough. And while we are yet to see the day when Apple starts to reveal the complete specifications of their devices, it’ll assure that the competition is reaching Apple’s neck.
Sources: Digital Rev Via ChipWorks
