Apple's plans to enhance the camera on next year's iPhone 14 are becoming clearer. However, one analyst reports that more exciting changes to the iPhone's camera setup may be a bit further down the road.

Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst closely wired to Apple's supply chain, has a new research note that 9to5Mac has discovered, in which he predicts the iPhone 14 will feature a 48MP main camera. If you've been following iPhone 14 rumors closely, this should come as no surprise. Kuo said the same thing back in April when he predicted that a 48MP camera would be featured on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Kuo is not the only analyst predicting that Apple will use a 48MP main camera in the iPhone 14 Pro models. Just last week, another analyst made the same prediction about Apple's camera plans.

The 48MP camera rumor may not be new, but it would still be a significant change for Apple, which has favored a 12MP main camera since the iPhone 6s. Over the years, Apple has improved its cameras by adjusting the aperture and sensor size to capture more light while keeping the megapixel count the same. [4x the resolution means sharper photos on next year's phones, and Apple is trying to keep pace with the Google Pixel 6 Pro, which has a 50MP main camera, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which boasts a 108MP wide-angle camera.

Even bigger changes could be in store for the iPhone 15, Kuo added in his report. He suggests the 2023 phone to add a periscope lens for improved zoom.

It's a move analysts have long expected Apple to make. The iPhone 13 was supposed to use a folded, periscope-like structure to improve its optical zoom - that rumor didn't pan out - and some analysts have suggested the feature for the iPhone 14. Kuo, however, now cites 2023 as the arrival date.

Periscope lenses address the lack of space in smartphones by stacking lenses vertically. To increase the amount of zoom in a camera, the focal length of the lenses must be increased. Stacking lenses horizontally requires limited space, but stacking lenses allows for more space. This is why phones like the Galaxy S21 Ultra can achieve 10x zoom. Apple, which lags behind Samsung phones in zoom capability, clearly wants to address this issue if this rumor is true.

Apple's iPhone 13 Pro Max currently sits at the top of our list of best camera phones, but the pressure in this category from both Google and Samsung is quite intense. If Apple wants to stay competitive, it will have to figure out how to make its already impressive camera even better. Kuo's new research note shows a potential avenue for Apple to do just that.