Two sources, each reputable enough to be credible, are arguing over the iPhone 17 camera layout.
The first claims that the iPhone 17 Pro will adopt a horizontal layout in a module shaped like the Dynamic Island, while the other claims that the camera module design does change but the triangular arrangement remains…
A Weibo user on Digital chat station posted a render of a camera module last week with three lenses arranged side by side inside a horizontal bar of the camera module with rounded ends. While this is just a mockup render and not a leaked image, they said the iPhone 17 “has indeed been redesigned to this design.”
They posted this render as an illustration:
They've previously posted accurate leaks about a telephoto lens coming to the iPhone 16 Pro (previously exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max) and a larger sensor size in the main camera this year.
But Instant Digital, whose accurate leaks include a yellow iPhone 14 and a landscape front-facing camera on this year's iPad Air, disputes that.
My source tells me that the rear design has indeed changed, but the three cameras are still arranged in a triangle, rather than the horizontal layout that is currently being reported online.
They didn't provide any details on the nature of the change.
9to5Mac's Take
Last time, I noted one aspect of the reported horizontal layout that didn't make sense to me:
We've seen other horizontal camera arrangements before, with some commentators pointing to Chinese brand Meizu as an early adopter of the idea, though in this case the lenses are arranged vertically rather than horizontally, which I think makes more sense given that most photos and videos are taken in landscape mode. orientation.
We typically want spatial video in landscape orientation, so a vertical layout with the cameras side by side when the phone is held horizontally would be more likely.
But this clash illustrates the difficulty of using supply chain sources to predict Apple's plans, and there are many reasons why they could be inaccurate.
Top comment from Tech_Enthusiast
Unless they figure out how to work around geometry, it won't be horizontal. The current equidistant arrangement of the 3 lenses allows the zoom between them to look relatively seamless in video (especially compared to other phones on the market). They could probably create software that digitally simulates this, but that's a lot of work compared to simply placing cameras at equal distances from each other.
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Apple often toys with different ideas, and may discuss them with different suppliers, for example to discuss the likely feasibility of manufacturing a certain concept.
The company may ask suppliers to provide samples of components that may point in a certain direction, but which are not subsequently ordered for production.
Apple probably even uses deliberate misrepresentation at times to disguise planned actions, aiming for leaks that suggest one thing while the actual plan is something else.
Photo by Jose Castillo on Unsplash
