The iPhone 7 Plus’s stunner of a camera has reinvigorated the smartphone industry’s pursuit of dual-sensor tech. Sony, a major smartphone camera supplier, said dual-lens camera modules would appear in a number of high-end handsets in the coming months. LG’s top-of-the-line G5 sports a dual-sensor camera, as does Huawei’s P9. And phonemakers aren’t the only companies jumping aboard. Another is veritable chipmaker Qualcomm, and on Wednesday, the company took the wraps off its latest dual-camera project: Clear Sight.
Qualcomm describes Clear Sight as a “processing solution” for phones with dual cameras, and that’s more or less the gist. The platform comprises a hardware module, a Snapdragon 820 or 821 processor, and a “computational low light … algorithm,” and leverages dual cameras to produce photos with contrast, sharpness, and clarity better than what they’d spit out independently. The key is the method of capture: While one sensor grabs a monochrome image, the other, captures a full-color frame in tandem.
The improvements are reportedly measurable. The black-and-white sensor is able to capture light three times better than its color-capturing companion, Qualcomm said, while the color sensor’s able to nab a much more nuanced light spectrum than it’d be otherwise able. There’s a downside in that few phones on the market pack the requisite hardware — one of the newest, LG’s V20, specifically doesn’t because of sensors that have “incompatible lens angles” — but Qualcomm said it’s working with manufacturers to build Clear Sight into future smartphones.
Clear Sight is an expansion of the imaging platform that Qualcomm launched last October. The chipmaker rolled out specialized hardware, a dual-image signal processor (ISP) dubbed Spectra, destined for two-sensor camera phones like the ZTE Axon and Axon Pro HTC One M8, and HTC Butterfly 3. It facilitates image processing between the twin shooters, of course, but enables a bevy of features besides. One, “refocus,” allows the adjustment of an image’s focus by simultaneously capturing different focal lengths between the phones’ cameras. Another, “segmentation,” maps a pic’s foreground and background focus planes. And a third, fast autofocus, boosts the speed at which the cameras narrow on focus planes.
They’re far different approaches than the one Apple’s taken with the iPhone 7 Plus. The handset’s module combines image data from two rear-facing sensors — a wide-angle lens and a 2x telephoto — in order to deliver optical zoom without loss of detail. In the near future, it’ll gain another unique trick: the ability to simulate bokeh, or depth of field. Apple said that functionality will roll out in October.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.