Tim Cook reveals iPhones use Sony camera sensors, confirms decade-long partnership

Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted in a recent tweet that the Cupertino company has been using Sony image sensors in the iPhone for over a decade. This is a rare confirmation from Apple regarding the specific components featured on its devices. The company’s iPhone model specs typically only include camera resolution, aperture, and other generic information. There have been several rumors over the years suggesting that Sony provides camera sensors for the iPhone. Even the iPhone 15 is expected to include Sony’s state-of-the-art image sensor.

Cook shared a tweet on Tuesday revealing that Sony has been supplying camera sensors for the iPhone for over a decade. It also included an image of Cook during a tour of the Kumamoto facility with Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida. This admission apparently put an end to the plethora of rumors speculating that the iPhone used Sony camera sensors.

We’ve partnered with Sony for over a decade to create the world’s best camera sensors for iPhone. Thanks to Ken and everyone on the team for showing me around the state of the art Kumamoto facility today. pic.twitter.com/462SEkUbhi

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 13, 2022

According to a recent report, the iPhone 15 series may boast a state-of-the-art Sony image sensor. It is said to be able to capture a person’s face clearly even against bright backlight. Sony is said to have included twice the saturation signal level in each pixel compared to conventional sensors.

This Sony camera sensor is rumored to be able to capture increased light and reduce overexposure or underexposure. However, Sony has yet to put these sensors into production. They would be manufactured at the company’s Nagasaki plant. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 15 series in the second half of 2023.

Sony reportedly controlled around 44% of the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor market in 2021, while Samsung came second with 18.5%. The company reportedly plans to spend around 900 billion yen (about 54,000 crore rupees) throughout 2023 in hopes of taking over around 60% of the CMOS image sensor market by 2025.

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