iPhone 20 will shoot like a cinema camera. Apple is testing LOFIC technology

For the twentieth anniversary of the iPhone in 2027, Apple is reportedly preparing not only a complete redesign with a bezel-less display, but above all, a revolution in photography. According to sources from South Korea and China, the iPhone 20 will receive its own sensor with LOFIC technology, which will dramatically increase its ability to capture details in both bright and dark parts of an image simultaneously.

What is LOFIC and why it’s a big deal

The acronym LOFIC (Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor) refers to technology that allows each pixel on a sensor to store different amounts of light depending on how bright a given part of the scene is. The result? The phone can capture both blown-out skies and dark shadows in a single shot – without the need to combine multiple exposures into an HDR photo.

The dynamic range of LOFIC sensors can reach up to 20 EV stops, which is the level of professional cinema cameras and approaches what the human eye can see. For comparison: current iPhones realistically manage around 12-14 EV stops.

According to Korean leaker yeux1122, Apple has a functional prototype and is testing it on development devices. The company even filed a patent in July describing a layered sensor design with a dedicated light-capturing layer and a processing layer that reduces noise in real-time.

China to deploy LOFIC as early as 2026

Apple won’t be the first. Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Honor, Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo plan to deploy LOFIC sensors from Sony in their flagships as early as 2026. The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra already features LOFIC.

This is a classic scenario we know with Apple: competitors deploy technology earlier, Apple comes a year later with its own, refined version and sells it as a revolution. It still works.

iPhone 18 Pro Max to get variable aperture

Even before the iPhone 20 arrives, we will see improvements in the 18th generation. Leaker Digital Chat Station confirmed that the iPhone 18 Pro Max (2026) will feature a main camera with a variable aperture.

This means photographers will be able to manually narrow the aperture to achieve greater depth of field – practical, for example, when taking group photos where you want all people to be in sharp focus.

In addition, the 48Mpx periscopic telephoto lens on the iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to get a brighter aperture than the current f/2.8. A faster lens will primarily help with low-light photography and video recording.

Bad news? Both new features will reportedly be exclusive to the larger Pro Max model. The smaller iPhone 18 Pro will have to make do with current hardware.

Bezel-less design and custom sensors

According to earlier information, the iPhone 20 is expected to feature a display curved on all four sides, which should create the impression of holding a single piece of glass. The combination of revolutionary design and a new generation of cameras makes sense – Apple usually celebrates milestones this way.

It’s important that Apple will no longer be solely dependent on Sony. Its own LOFIC sensor means greater control over the entire chain – from hardware to software image processing. This is the same path Apple took with processors (A and M series) or modems.

Will you be willing to wait until 2027 for Apple’s best camera phone?

Source: GSMArena, Notebookcheck