Dual camera for iPhone 7 Plus allegedly revealed

Apple's expected iPhone 7 Plus will sport two cameras, assuming the latest series of leaked photos are legit.

A batch of photos leaked on several Taiwanese websites and displayed collectively by blog site Pocketnow show six different modules allegedly to be used as a dual-camera system in this year's larger-screened iPhone. Cited by Pocketnow as being from a "very protective leaker in Taiwan" and another source, the photos reveal what the component for a dual-camera setup looks like.

Apple has been hit by softness in iPhone sales over the past several months. That may be because the enhancements in last year's iPhone 6S and 6S Plus lacked sufficient oomph to convince people to buy. Apple needs to outfit the expected iPhone 7 lineup with enticing new features to lure in consumers and regain some of its lost market share.

A dual-camera system would snap pictures with both lenses and then combine the results to produce higher-resolution photos. One 12-megapixel lens would be a wide-angle version equipped with optical image stabilization to offer higher quality photos. The other 12-megapixel shooter would come with an optical zoom capable of magnifying an image by up to three times.

The technology would presumably come courtesy of LinX, a company that was working on a way to create high-quality images from relatively small lenses. Apple acquired LinX in April 2015.

Rumors of dual cameras wending their way to the iPhone 7 Plus have been floating about for months. In January, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus would come in both single-lens and dual-lens versions, while the less expensive 4.7-inch iPhone 7 would continue to use a single lens system.

Leaked images such as these should be taken with a grain of salt, especially since the dual camera modules are shown as individual components and not part of any larger iPhone body. Kuo generally is on the money at revealing changes to Apple's mobile products, and the benefits of a dual-camera system could generate interest in the iPhone 7 Plus by appealing to smartphone buyers as well as avid photographers.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.