According to leaker Revegnus (opens in new tab), a variable zoom lens could be featured on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and could introduce a big new camera featrue to Apple's next flagship phone.

Currently, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max offer a 3x zoom lens and up to 15x hybrid zoom. So while the variable lens may not offer the higher zoom levels on the rumored iPhone 15 Pro Max (Revegnus says it does not know what magnification this lens will offer), what is theoretically offered is a choice of optical zoom levels.

The variable lens would not require cropping pixels (as the current Pro iPhone does) or using a separate camera, as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra does with its 3x and 10x dual telephoto, but would use internal moving parts to provide multiple magnifications possible. This is a relatively rare feature, first introduced in 2021 with the Sony Xperia 1 III's 3x and 5x zoom telephoto cameras. However, this differs from the continuous telephoto camera found in the Sony Xperia 1 IV, which can zoom at any magnification between the two extremes.

Even if not continuous, the ability to select zoom levels will be a big advantage for iPhone users who want to take more varied zoom photos without sacrificing photo resolution. However, based on the wording of Revegnus' tweet, it appears that the iPhone 15 Pro may not include this adjustable zoom feature.

In a way, it is hard to accept that Apple would make such a radical change to the iPhone 15 series without other rumor mongers picking up on it.

Revengus is a relatively new leaker, but he is one of the people behind some of the big recent claims, such as that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have similar features next year. He adds that the iPhone 15 Pro Max's sensor will apparently be the same 48MP/12MP/12MP combination as the iPhone 14 Pro.

We won't know for sure until Apple actually announces the iPhone 15 series. While a variable zoom lens seems unlikely, we have heard rumors of other features such as a USB-C port and solid state buttons that have not been seen on previous iPhones. So perhaps it is not unreasonable to believe this rumor after all.