New leak from a well-known analyst Manzana Ming-Chi Kuo makes it clear that Cupertino residents will be interacting with South Korea and the people at Samsung much more often in the coming years.
He iPhone 18 Starting in 2026, Apple will adopt a new 1/2.6-inch, 48MP ultra-wide CMOS image sensor (CIS) from Samsung, breaking Sony’s long-standing monopoly as Apple’s supplier in the CIS countries.
In a brief report posted on X (formerly Twitter), Kuo said that Samsung has already created a dedicated team within its ranks to work on camera components to specifically supply to Apple.
This will break Apple’s long-standing tradition of purchasing its Sony iPhones exclusively from the CIS countries.
According to the 2026 production roadmap, Apple plans to include Samsung image sensors in the camera system of the iPhone 18 series.
Source: Digital Trends
