For the past couple years, Apple has offered a tempting compromise for mobile photographers who want to zoom in for a shot but don't necessarily want to pay up for a phone that features a dedicated telephoto lens. From the iPhone 15 onward, Apple's entry-level flagship has offered a 48MP main lens that can crop in on scenes to produce the equivalent of a 2x optical zoom.
It's been an effective solution, at least when I've tried out zoom shots on older iPhones. For longer zooms, you'd be better off turning to a phone with a physical telephoto lens whether that's one of the iPhone Pro models or one of the many Android devices that challenge Apple's offerings for the title of best camera phone. But as a way to put some zoom power in the hands of people who don't want to pay $1,000 or more for a phone, Apple's approach has worked.
