Image: Tesla
Tesla’s latest vehicle software contains hints suggesting the company may be quietly preparing a camera change for its current Hardware 4 (HW4/AI4) platform, according to well-known Tesla hacker and code sleuth @greentheonly. The discovery points to new references to an “IMX00N” camera sensor appearing in recent firmware builds — a notable shift from the Sony IMX963 units Tesla has used since early 2023.
The IMX963 brought a major jump in image clarity for HW4, delivering 5-megapixel resolution, improved dynamic range, and stronger low-light performance compared to the older HW3 system. Those sensors power Autopilot, Full Self-Driving (FSD), and even Sentry Mode, meaning any change to the camera stack has potentially wide-reaching implications.
What exactly is IMX00N? That part remains unclear. The designation resembles an internal placeholder or partial part number rather than an official Sony sensor ID. Still, the fact that the firmware now references IMX00N in place of IMX963 suggests the hardware line is shifting to a new component. Whether this is a meaningful upgrade, a supply-chain-driven swap, or simply a minor manufacturing revision is something only hands-on owners will be able to confirm once vehicles with the new sensor start rolling out.
This camera update appears to be part of Tesla’s ongoing iterative approach to HW4, which will continue to underpin the company’s lineup until its next-generation AI5 platform arrives for mass production sometime in 2027. Elon Musk has previously teased that AI5 will be Tesla’s most powerful inference chip yet, representing a significant leap over the current HW4 system. If Tesla is refining camera hardware now, it could be laying groundwork for more ambitious neural-network improvements in the coming years.
For now, IMX00N raises more questions than answers. Will new cameras improve FSD reliability? Will Autopilot performance change? Is this a genuine upgrade or simply a drop-in replacement with similar specs? As always with Tesla hardware shifts, nothing is confirmed until owners start sharing real-world observations.
Stay tuned — we’ll be watching closely to see whether this quiet hardware change has a noticeable impact once new Model 3 and Model Y builds begin hitting the road.
