When it comes to the iPhone 16's rear camera design, rumors only point in one direction: towards a vertically stacked lineup for two camera lenses, a la the iPhone 12. Now there's another leak that puts the same stack.
Known informant majin bu (via MacRumors) has released what are supposedly camera lens molds along with a mockup of the back of the iPhone 16, and once again, the two rear camera lenses are shown on top of each other.
Take a look at the back of an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus and you'll see that the 48MP and 12MP cameras are arranged in a diagonal pattern, with the flash and microphone also visible in a slightly raised square bump.
We haven't seen cameras stacked like this on the back of an iPhone since the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, which launched side by side in October 2020, so it's looking increasingly likely that the old design will return.
Go space
One of the reasons for the change is rumored to be that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be able to record spatial video, the 3D video format that Apple introduced with iOS 17.2 on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
These videos give you a more immersive feel by recording from two slightly different angles (using two camera lenses) at the same time. The only downside is that you need an Apple Vision Pro to be able to get the 3D effect when playing them.
Having the feature on all four iPhone 16 models would open up the format to a broader audience and perhaps displace a few more Vision Pros at the same time. However, at this point, the only rumors we've heard about camera upgrades (rather than camera positions) are related to the iPhone 16 Pro.
Apply the usual caution when weighing this latest leak: there's no guarantee the information is completely accurate, and even if it is, Apple may make some tweaks to the iPhone 16 design between now and September.
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