The Apple iPhone 16 Standard Edition camera module design has been changed again: vertically arranged
IT Home reported on February 7 that according to Macrumors, Apple has been trying different camera module designs for the new iPhone 16 standard version in the past few months. Three early Apple designs were exposed in December, but now Apple seems to have a new idea.
IT Home noticed that Apple's latest prototype uses a vertically arranged camera design, with a raised part in the shape of a pill. To help people understand this change more intuitively, Macrumors also created simulations based on internal design.
The pill-shaped camera module retains the dual-camera ring design of the previous prototype and is used for wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses, respectively. It's worth mentioning that the vertically aligned camera design has remained consistent throughout the prototyping process, and even with the latest version, the position of the flash and camera lens hasn't changed.
Macrumors' findings coincide with a recent schematic shared by user Majin Bu on the social media platform X, whose leaked images show the same new design.
The new camera look Apple is trying this time is reminiscent of older iPhone models, such as the iPhone X. The iPhone X also features a pill-shaped camera module with a slim bump. While the iPhone 12 also uses a vertical camera design, its square bump is larger and houses a flash and microphone.
By adopting a vertical camera design, Apple is expected to bring spatial video recording capabilities to the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models. Currently, iPhone 15 models have a diagonal camera arrangement, which prevents them from capturing spatial video. Currently, this feature is limited to iPhone 15 Pro models and the Vision Pro headset itself.
In addition to the updated camera module design, the recent iPhone 16 prototype has fine-tuned the Action Button and Capture buttons. The latest version of the prototype has smaller function keys, similar to those used on the iPhone 15 Pro, while the capture keys are pressure-sensitive and flush with the device frame.
This pre-production information may not conclusively reflect the design of the final production model to be released this fall, as Apple creates multiple designs and hardware configurations during development, and the iPhone 16 series is no exception. As the device approaches the EVT (Engineering Verification Test) stage, we will receive more reliable information.