First iPhone 4S Image Sensor to Be Identified Comes from Sony

iphone 4s camera sensor sony
Sony markings on iPhone 4S camera sensor die

While iFixit performed the first thorough teardown of the iPhone 4S yesterday, Chipworks has now turned its more powerful equipment on the chips themselves, notably identifying Sony as the manufacturer of the 8-megapixel camera sensor in the first iPhone 4S they examined.

In order to get our readers the device manufacturer as soon as possible, rather than going through a fuming sulfuric acid chip deprocessing we chose to use our infrared microscope to look through the structure of this image sensor. What you see are the die markings on the base layer of the image sensor. The image isn’t beautiful, but it’s enough to tell us that Sony is in our particular iPhone 4S.

OmniVision has historically been the supplier for the image sensor in the iPhone, but comments from Sony CEO Howard Stringer earlier this year started rumors that Sony might take over production for the iPhone 4S. Later reports had said the two companies would be splitting the load with OmniVision handling up to 90% of production, but issues at OmniVision were later said to have led to Apple shifting orders to Sony. Weak financial guidance from OmniVision further fueled rumors that it had lost at least a substantial portion of the iPhone business.

As Chipworks notes, a single test unit is not sufficient to establish the balance of production should Apple be employing a dual-supplier solution for the iPhone 4S camera sensor. But Sony is at least involved in production this time around, and additional results should give a better picture of where Apple's orders have fallen.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...

Top Rated Comments

GabrielF Avatar
176 months ago
So for those keeping track:
[LIST=1]
* CPU Design - Apple A5 - US
* CPU Manufacturing - Samsung - Korea
* Battery assembly - Foxconn? - China
* RF Transceiver - Qualcomm - US
* Power Amplifier - Skyworks - US
* Power Amplifier - Avago - US
* SAW Filter - TriQuint - US
* PA Duplexer - TriQuint - US
* Power amplifier - Avago - US
* WiFi/Bluetooth Design - Broadcom - US
* WiFi/Bluetooth Manufacturing - Murata - Japan
* Flash memory - Toshiba - Japan
* RAM - Samsung - Korea OR
* RAM - Elpida - Japan
* Accelerometer - STMicroelectronics - Switzerland
* Gyroscope - STMicroelectronics - Switzerland
* Power management - Dialog - Germany
* Camera - Sony - Japan
* Touch sensor - Texas Instruments - US
* Vibrate motor - Samsung (likely) - Korea
* Audio codec design - Cirrus - US


So US companies are still doing the bulk of the component design work.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bertman Avatar
176 months ago
This is an interesting turnout.
It's interesting that Sony is, in essence, directly helping their competitor succeed. But then again most Nikon cameras use Sony sensors.

After seeing all the crappy cameras that Sony makes, how did they manage to slip into my beautiful 4S and produce such wonderful pictures? Oh... Well, cause it's apple, duh! :)
Dare I feed the troll? OK...

1) What crappy cameras are you referring to, being sure to compare the referenced camera(s) to the comparably-priced competitors*, and,

2) How, specifically, does an apple logo on the enclosure make it not crapy?

This should be good...

*Feel free to compare the A77/NEX-7 with cameras costing 2x-4x as much...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikefla Avatar
176 months ago
Thank god for the Sony optics they are long overdue on the iPhone, they make some of the best optics in the World.

-Mike
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bertman Avatar
176 months ago
But note that it's using Apple's own lens and software.

Lens; No. It is a 5-element design which is coupled tightly to the sensor - I cannot believe the whole assembly is not made by Sony. As an optical designer, I would love to get the optical design and analyze the limits of the imaging performance, but I can tell you it has improved distortion, sharpness, and color correction over the 4.

Software; Yes.

----------

Ugh Sony doesn't know how to make good cameras and video.

- Milk shoots out nose -

Don't DO THAT while I'm eating my milk and cookies!!!

- Wipes tears of laughter from eyes, still cleaning out nostrils... -
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JAT Avatar
176 months ago
This is an interesting turnout. After seeing all the crappy cameras that Sony makes, how did they manage to slip into my beautiful 4S and produce such wonderful pictures? Oh... Well, cause it's apple, duh! :)
Sony has made (and most likely will going forward) most of the digital camera sensors in the world. In all kinds of cameras. In Sony, Apple, Canon, Nikon, everybody.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
portishead Avatar
176 months ago
Ugh Sony doesn't know how to make good cameras and video. They should have partnered with Canon.

You have no clue.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)