New compact camera module for M5 MacBooks expected in 2025

Apple has reportedly commissioned one of its Vietnamese suppliers, Sunny Optical, to provide a new MacBook compact camera module (CCM) from next year. This is likely to be first used in an M5 MacBook Pro in late 2025.

It’s a somewhat surprising move, given that Apple had to cancel iPhone lens orders from the same company due to production problems …

Sunny Optical used to supply iPhone lenses to Apple, but unspecified production issues led to the cancellation of this contract. However, Ming-Chi Kuo says that it has now won back the business.

My latest survey indicates that starting from 2H24, iPhone orders will gradually return to Sunny Optical. This is due to Sunny Optical’s continuous production improvement and communication with Apple.

Additionally, the company will be making CCMs for future MacBook models.

Sunny Optical will become Apple’s new CCM supplier in 2025, with mass production and shipments in Vietnam for the CCM of the new M5 series MacBook models.

A CCM is essentially the entire camera unit minus the lens – that is, the sensor, digital signal processing (DSP) unit, and infrared filter needed to remove wavelengths that can interfere with color accuracy. (In some applications, the term is used to describe units which do include a lens.)

While there’s no confirmation in this report that Sunny Optical will be providing MacBook lenses too, the prospect of obtaining both camera components from the same supplier may be a factor in the decision.

In Apple’s optical component supply chain, only Sunny Optical can simultaneously supply CCM and lenses.

This could potentially simplify Apple’s supply chain.

We’re expecting M4 MacBook Pro models to launch in the final quarter of this year, with M5 versions likely to follow around a year later.

Photo: Apple