Yole Thoughts on iPhone X 3D Camera

EETimes' Junko Yoshida interviews Pierre Cambou, activity leader for imaging and sensor at Yole Développement:

"Cambou acknowledged that he was surprised to see the solution “way more complex than initially envisioned.” Building blocks inside the iPhone X, designed to enable Apple’s TrueDepth camera, include a structured light transmitter, a structure light receiver on the front camera and a time-of- flight/proximity sensor. Cambou said, “Apple managed to have so many technologies, and players behind those technologies, to work together for a very impressive result.”

Cambou said, “Well done indeed, if they were able to do such complex assembly.”

The Yole analyst suspects that STMicroelectronics is supplying the infrared camera and the proximity sensor. Apple might have sourced the front camera and the dot projector from AMS, he added.

While admitting that Apple isn’t — after all — using in iPhone X “ST’s SPAD imager as I dreamed,” Cambou conceded, “Apple combined admirably all the available technologies.”