TechTalk: What is LiDAR in the new iPhone 12 Pro?

What is LiDAR? Lidar stands for Light Detection and Ranging. Apple introduced the LiDAR sensor in the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, although this is not the first time the company is using LiDAR sensor in its products this will bring a lot of opportunity to what the phone can deliver. The Mobiddiction team give some insight into what the new technology will mean for the new Apple flagship.

LIDAR itself as a technology is not new. You might have heard of it in the context of self driving cars, where they use it to build a real time 3D models of the world you can see from a car, but those are tens of thousands of dollars each, and mostly fairly large with moving parts like spinning mirrors which consume a lot of power.

LIDAR in phones is also not new. The iPhone10 3 years ago had a LIDAR sensor on its front facing camera, which it uses to great effect for accurate and secure “Face ID”. The difference between this new iPhone 12 LIDAR sensor and the one that first appeared on the iPhone 10s front facing “Face ID” one is range and density.