iPhone 8 3D-Sensing Camera Module Appears In Leaked Photo

The iPhone 8 is expected to arrive next month with a facial recognition feature. Now, an alleged photo of the 3D sensing camera of the device has surfaced online, which is believed to be what makes this new feature possible.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported back in February that the 3D sensing front-facing camera on the iPhone 8 would be “revolutionary.” He said at the time that the front-facing camera would have three modules: a standard front-facing camera module, an infrared transmitting module and an infrared receiving module.

Just yesterday, Kuo reported that Apple’s 3D sensing technology would be ahead of Qualcomm’s own solution. He also said that Qualcomm won’t be able to make any significant shipments until at least 2019, accoridng to Phone Arena.

Now, a photo of the alleged 3D sensing camera module has been leaked online by Slashleaks. There really is no way of telling if this is legitimate or just a fakery, but its sudden appearance shortly after Kuo’s report is certainly dubious.

Although there’s no way to confirm if this is in fact Apple’s 3D sensing camera for the iPhone 8, the upcoming flagship smartphone’s official debut is already quite near. It’s already believed that volume production for the iPhone 8 is underway, and that it’s quite possible for its components to be leaked as it goes through the supply chain, as pointed out by 9To5Mac.

Slashleak didn’t provide any information on who provided this photo, nor did it give a any extra description for what it’s for. It’s believed that the 3D sensing capabilities will be applied for both the front and rear-facing cameras on the iPhone 8. The front camera will use the technology for facial recognition, while the dual rear cameras will use it for augmented reality.

If Kuo’s prediction is accurate and this newly leaked photo is the real deal, the iPhone 8’s front-facing camera should be quite impressive.

International Business Times did report previously that the HomePod firmware leak from earlier this month hinted at the possibility that the front-facing camera would be capable of shooting 4K videos at 60 frames-per-second. There were also codes within the HomePod firmware that suggests that the iPhone 8’s facial recognition feature can be used for Apple Pay payments.

If previous renders and dummy models are to be believed, the iPhone 8 will be the very first iPhone to feature very minimal bezels and an OLED display. It was also reported by Bloomberg back in July that Apple might completely ditch the Touch ID fingerprint sensor since it wasn’t able to embed the technology underneath the OLED panel.

The iPhone 8’s front-facing camera will need to truly impress consumers if Apple intends to go all out with its advanced 3D sensing facial recognition technology. Samsung has already applied its own facial recognition tech for the Galaxy S8, but it was discovered shortly after that it can be easily fooled with a photograph.