Xiaomi 16 Pro: New periscope telephoto camera upgrade tipped with dedicated macro mode also rumoured

Leaker Kartikey Singh claims to have received fresh information about the Xiaomi 16 Pro, which could be one of three flagships that the company presents this September. By all accounts, the Xiaomi 16 Pro will be joined by the Xiaomi 16 and Xiaomi 16 Pro Max. While all three are expected to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset, they may differ in terms of camera hardware.

Aligning with previous rumours, Singh alleges that Xiaomi plans to equip its next Pro-branded flagship with a new periscope telephoto camera. For reference, the Xiaomi 15 Pro utilises the Sony IMX858 for this task, a 50 MP and 1/2.51-inch sensor with an f/2.5 aperture and a 120 mm equivalent focal length. By contrast, Singh believes that Xiaomi will switch to the ISOCELL JN5 that Samsung announced over a year ago.

Also a 50 MP sensor, the ISOCELL JN5 actually has a smaller optical format than the IMX858 at 1/2.76-inches. However, the new sensor should bring a dedicated macro camera mode to the Xiaomi 16 Pro as well. Incidentally, this is the same sensor that Nothing for periscope telephoto optics inside the recent Phone (3) (curr. $799 on Amazon). Apparently, the smaller Xiaomi 16 will not gain a periscope telephoto camera, though. Instead, Singh anticipates that Xiaomi will retain a simple telephoto camera for its next compact flagship.