Will the iPhone 16 Pro be able to record 4K spatial video?

With the release of iOS 17.2, owners of iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are now able to record and play 3D spatial videos on the soon-to-be-launched Apple Vision Pro headset. Yet, it's worth noting that the iPhone 15 Pro can only record spatial videos at a resolution of 1080p at a speed of 30 FPS. Rumors, however, suggest that the iPhone 16 may very well support 4K spatial video quality due to potential tech upgrades.

The mechanism of spatial video recording currently depends on the arrangement of the rear triple camera lens provided in the iPhone 15 Pro, which must be held horizontally to capture landscape video via both the main and the ultra wide lenses simultaneously. These video streams combine to form a 3D video. iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max allow this due to both lenses being on the same level, albeit separated by a few centimeters horizontally to offer enough parallax for achieving the 3D depth effect.

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are equipped with a 48-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultra wide camera. After adjusting the perspective of the 12-megapixel ultra wide frame to match that of the main camera, the resolution is not sufficient enough to produce a 4K video, since 4K videos require about 9 megapixels of resolution. Hence, the maximum resolution of Spatial Video currently stands at 1080p.

Nonetheless, this could change soon with the expected launch of iPhone 16 this fall. Reports indicate that the iPhone 16 Pro models will have a 48-megapixel ultra wide sensor. If these rumors come to fruition, it is possible that both the main and ultra wide cameras will shoot 48-megapixel raw input, thereby making the production of 4K spatial video a reality.

Given the current technology, though, Apple potentially leverages its two cameras to crop 4K streams down to 1080p. But, if the iPhone 16's software could actually record dual 8K streams, making use of the total 48 megapixel sensors of the main and ultra wide cameras, then 4K quality spatial videos are not far-fetched. It remains to be seen whether the iPhone 16 chip will have the computational capability for such a feat, but it surely seems achievable.

Also, expanding spatial video support across the iPhone 16 lineup is underway. It is expected that the base model iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will have a new camera layout that positions both cameras linearly, in lieu of the current diagonal format. If this comes to pass, not only will all iPhone 16 models be able to record spatial videos but, with a bit of luck, the premium models could also boast of 4K spatial video quality as an added professional feature.