Apple has been reported on innumerable occasions to bring a periscope zoom lens to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and whether or not the company made this decision intentionally to charge its customers a premium, it will be a highly anticipated upgrade. However, it is possible that Apple had little choice when choosing which model gets this lens. One tipster states that the ultrawide unit on the top-tier iPhone offering for 2023 will not be in the same position, and it could be due to the lack of space.
Switching the periscope camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max also explains why Apple did not bring the upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro
Before readers start contemplating, Apple is not going to use a different camera module than the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s; that part will remain the same. However, @URedditor appears to believe that the telephoto camera, which will also have the periscope lens, will not be in the same position as the telephoto camera was on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Instead, it will trade places with the ultrawide angle camera due to valid reasons.
It appears that the ultrawide angle camera will be moved to the bottom, while the telephoto unit will be the one in between the LED flash and LiDAR sensor. Given the limited space that Apple is likely working with, it could not have moved the periscope parts at the bottom due to the battery blocking the path, and it could not be moved to the right side because of the LiDAR sensor. So, the only logical decision would be to move it to the center.
On a related note - the camera arrangement has changed, compared to the 14 Pro / Pro Max.
The Ultra Wide and Telephoto cameras have swapped positions - so the camera between the flash and LiDAR sensor is the one with periscope lens on the 15 Pro Max (regular telephoto on 15 Pro) https://t.co/J0QYdPsNH7
— Unknownz21
