Apple's iPhone 18 Pro ships with three rear cameras, while Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8 carries only two — a gap that looks strange on paper, since the Fold8 is Samsung's most expensive foldable. According to 매일경제, the difference is not a cost-cutting decision but a consequence of how much physical room each phone has to work with.
The Korean business daily reported on the contrast on October 11, 2026, laying out why camera counts on flagship phones have diverged even as the two companies compete for the same buyers.
Why it matters
Rear camera modules have grown into a defining feature of phone design. Consumers have nicknamed Apple's layouts "induction cooktop" and "cafeteria tray" because of how the lenses cluster on the back panel, 매일경제 noted — a sign that the camera array is now judged as an aesthetic object, not just a tool. How Apple and Samsung resolve the tension between camera hardware and device thinness will shape what the next generation of flagships looks like.
One lens cannot do every job
The core reason phones carry multiple cameras is optical, according to 매일경제. A single lens cannot cover every field of view well. An ultra-wide lens captures sweeping landscapes, a main camera handles everyday shooting, and a telephoto lens pulls distant subjects closer — and each of those jobs requires a different optical structure. Manufacturers split the work across separate modules rather than compromise on one.
Apple's approach on the iPhone 18 Pro follows that logic to its fullest extent. The phone has three 48MP Fusion cameras: a main, an ultra-wide, and a telephoto. The main camera covers 24mm and 48mm focal lengths, the ultra-wide covers 13mm, and the telephoto reaches 100mm and 200mm, per 매일경제. The main camera also uses a variable aperture, which lets the phone adjust how much light enters and how deep the in-focus area runs depending on shooting conditions.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8 takes a different route. It has two rear cameras — a 50MP wide and a 50MP ultra-wide — with no dedicated 3x or 5x telephoto module. Instead, it delivers 2x optical-quality zoom plus digital zoom, 매일경제 reported. A top-tier foldable ending up with fewer cameras than a standard flagship is unusual, but it reflects the constraints Samsung was working under.
Space, thickness, and the foldable problem
Camera hardware takes up room. Lenses, image sensors, and optical stabilization components all compete for space inside a phone body, and telephoto cameras are the hardest to accommodate because they need a longer focal distance, according to 매일경제. Inside a foldable, where internal volume is tighter than in a conventional slab phone, the trade-off between camera capability and thickness becomes sharper. Industry contacts cited by the outlet said balancing the two is now a central design question for foldables.
The Fold8's weight, down to 201g, is tied to that same design effort. Samsung said it reviewed roughly 270 components and more than 180 types of subsidiary materials for the Fold8, optimizing some parts down to 0.001g increments, per 매일경제. The company's stated goal was to keep the foldable thin and light while still improving camera performance.
Apple has faced its own design backlash as its camera modules grew. The square camera array on the iPhone 11 era drew the "induction cooktop" comparison, and later models with larger camera areas picked up the "cafeteria tray" label, 매일경제 reported. Those nicknames are consumers' shorthand for a simple observation: better cameras mean bigger camera bumps.
More lenses does not automatically mean better photos
Camera count is not a reliable proxy for image quality. Sensor size, lens aperture, stabilization, and image processing all matter, according to 매일경제. Apple is pushing variable aperture on the iPhone 18 Pro's main camera, while Samsung is leaning on software — combining data from multiple sensors and processing it through apps to improve zoom and overall image quality.
That split defines the current state of the competition. Apple's iPhone 18 Pro is betting on multiple cameras to widen the range of focal lengths it can cover. Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8 is betting on keeping a foldable thin and light while holding image quality steady. Industry analysts quoted by 매일경제 said the race is shifting away from how many lenses a phone has and toward how well a manufacturer uses limited internal space to deliver both image quality and a slim body.
The next thing to watch is whether Samsung extends the Fold8's two-camera, software-heavy approach to its standard Galaxy S flagships, or reserves it for foldables where space is genuinely scarce. Reports cited in the same coverage also point to Samsung testing AI features aimed at reducing glare in photos, and to a possible camera upgrade on the Galaxy S27 Ultra targeting lens flare — both signs that the next round of competition may be fought over light handling rather than lens count.
