The iPhone XS cameras were housed in a pill-shaped bump
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Rumors about the iPhone 16 design are constantly changing, with the latest suggesting that the camera bump will resemble a thinner version of the iPhone X shaped pills.
Design leaks usually taper off after the new year as Apple finalizes product designs, but that doesn't seem to be the case this cycle. Following the December rumor of three possible designs, the same anonymous source has now shared a new fourth design.
According to rumors from MacRumors, the leaked designs show a thin pill-shaped camera bump with vertical cameras and an offset flash. The physical placement of the cameras and flash has not changed from previous leaks, only the design of the protrusion itself.
This leak matches images shared by a host known as Majin Boo on X. He is a source who has shared exact details in the past, but his track record is limited.
New information about the iPhone 16 (rumor)
The size of the 16 Pro model, although many other sources say that the size has increased, I see that in the 16 Pro Max there will be no changes, at least that's what I see now. Without accurate measurements I cannot guarantee, pic.twitter.com/uUJjMVikK9
— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) February 4, 2024
The vertical camera placement is likely intended for spatial video recording, something only the iPhone 15 Pro models can do today. The 48MP main camera and 12MP ultra-wide camera work together to capture 3D video, which can be viewed on Apple Vision Pro.
Tuesday's leak revealed nothing more than a minor design tweak and a change to the Action button, which reverts to the current mechanical button design. Previous rumors suggested that the capacitive Capture button would join the larger capacitive Action button.
Apple was rumored to have made the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro capacitive, but ultimately abandoned the idea. Whatever problems there were with the introduction of capacitive buttons on the iPhone, they clearly persist with development and could lead to the Capture button becoming mechanical too.
The cosmic change in the camera protrusion and the transition to a mechanical action button is not a shocking development. It seems strange that Apple would continue to work on cosmetic details this late in the iPhone 16 development cycle. However, the rumors could also be delayed, and the prototypes in question could be months old.
Majin Boo's confirmation and Ming-Chi Kuo's previous rumors make this rumor “possible”.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 16 lineup in September. Along with the new camera layout on the base models, the pro models are expected to feature a larger design, with both featuring a tetraprism camera.
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