While the iPhone 14 range hasn’t even launched yet, we’ve already repeatedly heard something about the iPhone 15 family, and that’s that the Pro models will apparently have a periscope camera for long-range zoom. Now we’re hearing that again, and this time with a bit more specificity.

According to Jeff Pu (an analyst with a mixed track record for Apple information) in a report seen by 9to5Mac , the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will offer 5x optical zoom – up from 3x on the current models.

Supposedly Apple is in negotiations with Lante Optics for these periscope zoom lenses, with the latter company likely to supply more than 100 million components to Apple if a deal is reached. So it sounds like there’s still a chance this won’t happen.

Apple has reportedly received component samples from Lante Optics and will apparently reach a final decision by May. If a deal isn’t done, we’d expect Apple would look for a different supplier, but whether one could be found in time for the iPhone 15 range isn’t clear.

Still, a periscope zoom is a logical upgrade for the iPhone range, as it’s a camera design that allows for much longer distance zoom than standard telephoto lenses like those found in current iPhones. So we’d think sooner or later it’s near-certain that Apple will offer this.

Opinion: 5x is a start, but it’s not enough

Most of the leaks about periscope zoom coming to the iPhone 15 Pro haven’t talked about a specific zoom distance, leaving me to hope that we’d see 10x optical zoom, but this latest report suggests that the iPhone 15 Pro will only be capable of 5x optical zoom.

That’s not a huge jump on the 3x optical zoom that Apple’s top phones are already capable of, so it will lack the wow factor of 10x zoom. And while it could work well for, say, portrait photography, it won’t be as beneficial as 10x would be for photographing wildlife and other distant subjects that you can’t easily get close to (such as details high up on buildings or ships out at sea).

If the iPhone 15 Pro range really does offer 5x optical zoom that also suggests it will probably only have one optical zoom lens, since that’s a middle ground between 3x and 10x. That’s a shame too, as I’d much rather see the versatility of two (or more) optical zoom distances, like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra offers with both 3x and 10x, giving users the best of both worlds.

Of course, the iPhone 15 range is still more than 18 months away, so it’s too soon to be confident of anything yet. Hopefully Apple will get zoom right.

Sharing your favorite PS5 screenshots with the world just got easier

Sony has begun rolling out a new update that will make sharing your favorite PS5 screenshots and videos clips much easier.

The update adds a new option to auto-upload your latest screenshots and video clips to the PlayStation App, so you can easily share your greatest gaming moments straight from your phone.

To see if you have the update yet, head to the Media Gallery on your PS5 – find the Activity Card in the PS5 Control Center or scroll to the Game Library Icon and click on the Media Gallery. You should then be presented with a prompt that explains how the new feature works, and if you’d like to enable it.

There are a few caveats to be aware of, though. Any screenshots that are automatically uploaded will only be available on your PlayStation App for 14 days, and video clips are limited to three minutes or less. Trophy moments will not be uploaded, either.

Analysis: a boon for PS5 content creators

The new PS5 update isn’t available for everyone yet, but it’s a welcome quality-of-life change, particularly for content creators. Grabbing captures from your PS5 is a rather cumbersome process currently, as you either need to upload your screenshots and videos directly from the console to social media, or plug in a USB stick if you want to transfer them to a PC.

By being able to access your videos and screenshots from your phone, it should make sharing and transferring content across devices a lot easier, and brings it in line with Microsoft’s Xbox app, which works in very much the same way.

There is a big difference between the two, though. Microsoft’s Xbox App lets you keep your screenshots and videos indefinitely, without an arbitrary time limit in place. That’s something that hopefully Sony can change in the future, as it can be nice to go back and revisit some of your most treasured gaming memories.

The PS5 has continued to receive a number of system updates that have added more functionality, like the ability to upgrade the PS5 storage with an internal SSD and improved trophy support ,  but there are still a few big features missing that we'd like to see. 1440p support and VRR are a must, particularly as Microsoft's consoles have supported both these features since 2018. Some updates do take longer than others, though. One of the best PS5 features is now on Xbox Series X after eight long years.

Samsung just showed the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra on its own website

There's been a new Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 leak every single day for a while now, but this latest one can't quite be classified as a 'leak' - that's because it comes from Samsung itself.

As spotted by 91mobiles , if you head on over to Samsung US's support page guide to using Bixby voice wake-up, and scroll down to 'Voice wake-up on multiple devices', you can see the following image:

You might need to head over to the support page rather than using that little block above, but if you look at the orange picture there, you'll be able to see something that looks suspiciously like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.

Due to the screen notch, we can tell that's not a different Samsung tablet or device, as they don't have notches like that - nope, it seems like the company has just posted a picture of its upcoming top-end tablet on its website. It's in a stand case, which is why it's at a weird angle.

Leaks suggest that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra will get a giant 14-inch screen with a bezel so thin that the front-facing camera has to be housed in a notch instead.

At the time of writing this news story, the image is still live - we can't guarantee Samsung will keep it on its website forever though, so if you've been on the support page and couldn't see it, it's likely Samsung removed the graphic.

The use of this image suggests Samsung could be gearing up to launch its new Galaxy Tab S8 family very soon - we're also expecting the Galaxy S22 to debut in February, so perhaps both could show up at once.

Analysis: Samsung's website is the best leaker

There are loads of tech gadget leakers on the internet, but one of the most reliable for Samsung products must be the company itself. There's a long history of the brand accidentally listing devices on its support websites before they've been launched.

We last saw this with the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE , as a month before it launched in early January 2022, it showed up on Samsung UAE's support site . A few weeks later, Samsung Ireland's site listed prices for the device too.

Based on the time frame of those, we'd expect the Galaxy Tab S8 family to be a month or less out - to give Samsung some credit, it rarely leaks its own products too far in advance.

Stay tuned to TechRadar so that when the new Android tablets launch, you can find out all about them.