Apple was held back for years in delivering a modern telephoto/zoom lens that would be able to compete with Samsung who acquired Corephotonics who had been filing a series of patent infringement lawsuits going back to 2017. Samsung wanted to keep Apple from delivering an iPhone with a comparable zoom lens to compete with their Galaxy phone series. Then in 2021 the U.S. Federal Circuit sided with Apple that Corephotonics patent claims were unpatentable due to obviousness. In 2021, Apple’s  supplier for the telephoto lens,  LG Innotek, had Corephotonics patents nullified. The question becomes, did Apple get around Corephotonics patents with legal maneuvering alone?

A new report by The Elec notes that analysis has shown that the folded zoom patent first applied by Apple to the recently released iPhone 15 Pro Max differs from Samsung Electronics' folded zoom technology in terms of image stabilization (OIS). Folded Zoom is a technology that bends light and transmits it to the image sensor. This is a patented technology that Samsung Electronics applied to smartphones early on.

Apple avoided Samsung Electronics' patents with 'sensor shift' technology that supports image stabilization (OIS) in the image sensor. The folded zoom that Samsung Electronics is applying to the Galaxy series is different in that it implements OIS in the lens part. Samsung Electronics subsidiary Corephotonics, which has been targeting Apple's folded zoom market and seeking a patent licensing agreement, will analyze Apple's folded zoom technology and review the possibility of patent infringement claims.

According to multiple industry officials on the 18th, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, to which Apple first applied folded zoom, is believed to have applied a different patent from the folded zoom applied to the existing Samsung Electronics Galaxy series. Folded zoom is a telephoto camera technology that bends light using a prism and transmits it to the image sensor. Since the focal length is secured by bending the light, it is possible to implement a high-magnification zoom function while minimizing the 'knock-off' on the back of the smartphone.

Industry insiders say that the principle of bending light with a prism and transmitting it to the image sensor is the same as the folded zoom of Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy series, but the technology that supports OIS is different. Apple supports the OIS function in the image sensor department, and Samsung Electronics supports the OIS function in the lens department.

At the iPhone 15 unveiling event last week, Apple announced that it applied a 'tetra-prism' design that bends light four times and a '3D sensor shift module' to the 15 Pro Max model's folded zoom. In order to bend light four times, the surface coating of the prism must be elaborate, and technology to minimize diffuse reflection is also required. Apple has already applied sensor sheet technology that moves the image sensor when implementing the OIS function in the iPhone series.

Apple's 'Camera focus and stabilization system' patent (US2023-0010117A) states that "an actuator assembly moves the camera image sensor in three dimensions to provide autofocus (AF) and/or OIS movement. “It is structured to do so,” he said.

The 'Rotational ball-guided voice coil motor' patent (US11150447) of Corephotonics, a Samsung Electronics subsidiary that holds the folded zoom structure patent, includes a folded zoom structure using a ball-guided actuator. Although it is explained, there is no mention of supporting image stabilization by moving the image sensor.

An industry official said, "The Corephotonics patent (used by Samsung Electronics) uses a ball and ball guide to correct hand shake by using a reflector (prism) that reflects light coming from the subject." He added, "The iPhone 15 Pro Max Folded Zoom is “It appears that the lens unit is not driven by a ball guide actuator.”

However, despite these differences in representative patents, Corephotonics is expected to review the possibility of patent infringement claims for the iPhone 15 Pro Max Folded Zoom.