The high-resolution smartphone sensors are coming

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

According to a new report from Korean outlet, it looks like the S23 Ultra will use the camera sensor that the company launched last year. That is a lot of data, and it is not the only company competing in this new arms race. It looks like Apple will be moving to higher resolution 48-megapixel camera sensors in the next iteration of the device.

Real image quality benefits come from moving to higher-resolution sensors. In this part of the race, it's all about binning. Combining individual pixels into four-by-four or two-by-two configurations is what this technology is used for.

The new sensor takes the technology to a whole new level. Considering that the Apple 12-megapixel sensor has a 1.9m resolution, the 0.64m resolution on the 200-megapixel sensor is not very large. It's possible to put 16 of them together and make for a 2.56m resolution. Bigger images collect more light and make them better. You don't have to worry about filling up your phone storage with 200-megapixel photos if you choose to get a 12-MIP final image.

I think it's great. The S23 Ultra and the Pro models of the iPhone 14 seem to be the only high-res models that will get the high-res sensor. Until high-res sensors trickle on down to the basic flagships, the rest of us will have to make do with 12.