Apple is rumored to be making a major change to the iPhone 16 camera, marking the first such redesign since 2013.
Industry leakers have shared photos of the upcoming smartphone, showing off a sleeker, pill-shaped camera system capable of capturing 3D “spatial video” for playback on Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset.
The change would be very different from the current one. iPhone design that features an awkward diagonal camera layout.
While Apple is yet to reveal any details about its upcoming smartphone, new leaks reveal an apparent dual-camera setup, one dedicated to wide and ultra-wide fields of view.
Apple is planning a sleeker, pill-shaped camera system for its new iPhone 16, capable of capturing 3D ‘spatial video’ for playback on Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset.
Tech industry leakers have unearthed photos of iPhone 16 demo cases (above) and iPhone 16 schematics (below) that they claim clearly indicate that the clunky diagonal camera systems of recent iPhone models are likely to become in a thing of the past.
However, purported demos of the two Pro models of the iPhone 16 show that those devices will likely still come with a triangular camera arrangement for even greater 3D quality.
Until now, only the iPhone 15 Pro had the ability to record the kind of stunning, fully immersive 3D “space video” for viewing on Vision Pro glasses.
For months, industry insiders have been reporting that Apple will be making several major tweaks to the camera system of its upcoming iPhone 16.
A new button that has appeared on the side of new iPhone case prototypes is reportedly a new “capture” button for activating the camera more quickly from the device’s lock screen, for example.
And now, a report from Tom’s Guide has investigated the new lineup of pills in the alleged iPhone 16 basic phones.
These vertically stacked cameras on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus would be the first major alignment change since diagonally aligned lenses were first introduced with the debut of the iPhone 13 in September 2021.
The new alignment, according to this report, will allow the phone to capture images from its main and ultra-wide cameras at the same time.
The synthesis of those two video streams will allow even the lower-end iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus to create videos with a sense of depth that creates the illusion of watching a real-life scene unfold before your eyes.
“Space video will probably be added,” claims a prolific Apple leaker, who goes by the name Majin Buu in X, okay. Bu published schematics and prototypes that are supposedly the iPhone 16.
“Space video will probably be added,” noted a prolific Apple leaker, known as Majin Bu on X, who posted schematics (above) and prototypes purported to be the iPhone 16.
But the two iPhone 16 Pro models will also have unique additions to enhance their ability to produce immersive spatial video.
Every model, from the iPhone 16 to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, will come with a new 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera that’s said to be better for shooting spatial video.
But the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will have a 5x telephoto lens and improved camera sensors that will increase that capability, which could help the device take more detailed space videos and perhaps even space videos from a distance.
Majin Bu and other leakers have also… reported that the new phone’s cameras will come with a redesigned anti-glare lens coating, applied with a precise ‘atomic layer deposition’ (ALD) technique, which will improve ‘the long-standing problem of ghosting’ with iPhone cameras.
Ghosting is a type of camera artifact, similar to lens flare, in which faint afterimages or duplicates appear, usually on the opposite side of a bright light.
The phenomenon occurs when light bounces between the two surfaces of the camera lens and its sensor.
Every model from the iPhone 16 to the iPhone 16 Pro Max will come with a new 48-megapixel ultra-wide that’s said to be better for shooting space video. But the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will also have 5x telephoto lenses and improved camera sensors.
The change would be a far cry from the current iPhone design that features an awkward diagonal camera layout.
In early May, well-known Apple insider Sonny Dickson leaked photos of four alleged prototypes of the upcoming iPhone 16 models: the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Dickson’s photo posted on social site X was a corroborating indication that at least the cheaper iPhone 16 models could feature this vertically stacked, pill-shaped camera setup.
But the leak also revealed a major potential size change, with the iPhone 16 Pro promising to be 6.3 inches long compared to the same model in 2022, which came in at 6.1 inches.
This major change to the high-end models would be the first size upgrade Apple has made since the iPhone 12 Pros, which were 0.6 inches larger than the previous model.
However, experts point out that these “proof-of-concept” iPhones may not be 100 percent accurate.
Thus, the public will only know for sure if these images are really correct when Apple officially presents its new line of iPhones later this year.
The company hosts several events throughout the year about new products, such as its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) held last June for third-party app makers and Apple fans, and has traditionally revealed its new iPhone models in September.