The iPhone 16e camera has more features than meets the eye

If you're using an iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone XS, you might feel like Apple's latest iPhone is a downgrade in terms of camera. But the reality is that the latest iPhone's camera has more advanced features than meets the eye.

Back in 2016, Apple introduced the iPhone 7 Plus, the first phone to feature a dual-camera system. In addition to the standard wide-angle camera, the iPhone 7 Plus also featured a telephoto lens, allowing for 2x optical zoom without the loss of image quality that comes with digital zoom. Notably, the iPhone 7 Plus also introduced Portrait mode, which uses the dual-camera system to create a blurred background effect.

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The iPhone 7 Plus is the first iPhone model equipped with a dual camera system.

In 2017, Apple upgraded the camera system on the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, continuing to offer 2x optical zoom with a separate telephoto lens. In 2018, the iPhone XS debuted with two lenses that offered 1x and 2x photos without digital zoom.

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The iPhone XS comes with two lenses that take 1x and 2x photos without digital zoom.

In 2019, Apple changed things up with the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. The iPhone 11 has two lenses, with the second camera taking ultra-wide shots at 0.5x instead of 2x telephoto. To get the 2x telephoto camera, users need to opt for the iPhone 11 Pro, Apple's first product to have three cameras: ultra-wide, wide, and telephoto.

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The iPhone 14 Pro has upgraded the telephoto lens from 2x to 3x and the main camera to 48 megapixels.

Since the iPhone 11 series, two cameras have meant wide and ultra-wide, while three cameras have meant telephoto, wide, and ultra-wide. In 2022, the iPhone 14 Pro upgraded the telephoto lens from 2x to 3x and the main camera to 48 megapixels, allowing for both 1x and 2x capture from the same lens.

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The iPhone 16 Pro continues to use three cameras to shoot 0.5x, 1x/2x, and 5x.

Recently, the iPhone 16 Pro continues to use three cameras to shoot 0.5x, 1x/2x and 5x, while the standard iPhone 16 has two cameras for 0.5x and 1x/2x. Notably, the iPhone 16e model is only equipped with a rear camera with a 48 MP sensor, but is still capable of shooting both 1x and 2x without digital zoom.

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The iPhone 16e has only one rear camera but can still take 1x and 2x shots without digital zoom.

For Apple's latest model, the iPhone 16e only has a single rear camera with a 48-megapixel sensor. Like recent iPhone models, the iPhone 16e can take both 1x and 2x photos without digital zoom with just a single lens.

For that reason, the single camera on the iPhone 16e is equivalent to the dual-camera system on the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, and iPhone XS, with a new, vastly improved sensor. This is actually a significant step forward for a single-camera system, although it initially seems more like the iPad camera.

Kareem Winters

Update 25 February 2025