Apple is rumored to announce the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max this year with a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor. This new sensor would sit alongside the triple rear camera setup that is likely to include wide-angle, ultra-wide-angle, and telephoto shooters. The sketch, which has posted on Instagram by an account ConceptsiPhone, is said to be of the iPhone 12 Pro. It shows a quad rear camera setup on the iPhone, along with an LED flash module sitting in the middle of the four sensors. While three sensors appear on the leaked image are meant for photography, the fourth one is the LiDAR sensor, as reported by a Twitter user who goes by pseudo username chocobit.
According to the tipster, Apple could use the LiDAR sensor on the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max to offer newer augmented reality (AR) experiences. This would be similar to how the company is planning to explore new avenues with the iPad Pro 2020 models that also carry a LiDAR sensor alongside two distinct camera sensors. A LiDAR sensor is used to measure the distance to the surroundings using laser light. This could be useful to build AR models and enable 3D sensing on the new iPhone models. Some reports in the past suggested that iPhone 12 Pro models this year will debut with a new depth sensor. However, instead of giving a traditional depth sensor, Apple may have plans to bring its new iPhone models with a LiDAR sensor. In addition to the LiDAR sensor, the iPhone 12 models could include large image sensors for capturing additional light and include sensor-shift image stabilization.
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