Sony will replace Lumentum and WIN Semi as the exclusive supplier of LiDAR scanner components for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, according to the latest information shared by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo he said that Sony’s VCSEL time-of-flight (ToF) scanner has lower power consumption than Apple’s existing suppliers.
This would result in the LiDAR scanner being more energy efficient on the iPhone 15 Pro models, which Kuo says could contribute to a longer battery time or allow the LiDAR scanner to offer a better performance with the same level of power consumptionue on existing iPhones.
Kuo said the improved LiDAR scanner could benefit camera features such as night mode and autofocus, as well as augmented reality uses.
First introduced on iPhone 12 Pro models in 2020, the LiDAR scanner can measure light distance and capture depth information, and the hardware is expected to remain exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro models.