Samsung and Apple have a unique relationship. The two compete in the high-end smartphone market but Samsung also supplies components that make the iPhone great. For example, Samsung Display is the largest supplier of OLED panels for the iPhone, and will soon become a major supplier for the future OLED MacBooks.

The company also makes and sells image sensors and while Apple has continued to source them from Sony, it may took to Samsung's way if the company can produce something that helps improve photography on the iPhone. It turns out Samsung may be doing just that.

A similar sensor also being developed for future Galaxy phones

Whispers from the echo chamber of leaks on X reveal that Samsung is working on a 3-layer stacked image sensor in a PD-TR-Logic configuration for Apple. It's claimed to be superior to Sony's current Exmor RS sensors and may be utilized as the main image sensor in a future iPhone.

Sony has been the preferred supplier of iPhone image sensors for many years now. Getting in on that action would be a lucrative proposition for Samsung. Some analysts have already predicted that Apple may use a 48-megapixel Samsung sensor on the iPhone 18. This latest rumor makes it possible that multiple Samsung image sensors may be used by Apple.

What would be so special about this 3-layer stacked sensor? The processing chips are packaged on the pack of the camera sensor in this arrangement, with three chips in total, stacked one on top of the other. It would help improve both processing speeds and quality as the pixel values would only travel a much shorter distance.

This would, in theory, significantly enhance the photography capabilities of the new iPhone. Some rumors claim we'll see these sensors in action with the iPhone 18 that's due in 2026. It's important to take these rumors with a grain of salt. Rumors of a Samsung sensor in the iPhone 16 floated around as well, but they ended up being false.

Samsung won't let Apple have all the fun, though, as it's also said to be developing another 3-layer stacked 500-megapixel camera that would be used for Galaxy flagship phones.

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