Apple to keep the periscope telephoto camera exclusive to the iPhone Pro models next year
Apple unveiled the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max in September, with only the Pro versions featuring periscope telephoto cameras. And if you were expecting next year's non-Pro iPhone 17 models to sport periscope units, that's not happening.
The word comes from South Korean publication The Elec, which claims the periscope telephoto camera will remain exclusive to the Pro models in next year's lineup, even though LG Innotek - that makes iPhone camera modules - is investing in new facilities, possibly for the upgraded iPhone 17 series camera modules.
The iPhone 17 series is expected to include four models - iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air (or Slim; whatever it will be called), iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Since the periscope cameras on the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max have 5x optical zoom, you can expect next year's Pro version to offer at least 5x optical zoom, but you won't get that with the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air/Slim.
Source (in Korean)