iPhone 16 dummy units show that rumors about a huge change to the rear cameras are right
Back in May 2023 we first heard rumors about a big change coming to the rear cameras on the iPhone 16 series. The rumor says that for the first time since the iPhone 12 line was launched in 2020, the 2024 iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will have their two rear cameras mounted vertically instead of diagonally. Reportedly, Apple is making the change to make it easier for those devices to record 3D pictures and videos which are known as spatial pictures and spatial videos. On the Vision Pro, they appear in 3D and they show up in 2D on other devices.
The new camera placements for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus mean that all four iPhone 16 models will be able to shoot spatial images and videos for the Vision Pro along with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Thanks to dummy units of the iPhone 16 obtained by Sonny Dickson, it appears that the change is coming. Dickson has been associated with dummy units of upcoming iPhone models for years. Back in April, he showed off earlier versions of iPhone 16 dummy units.
iPhone 16 camera: everything we know so far
While Apple is making the change to the iPhone 16 non-Pro Wide, and Ultra-wide cameras, last year it changed the positions of the Telephoto and Ultra-wide cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to support spatial video recording. Dickson's dummy units show color options for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus of:
- Blue
- Yellow
- Pink
- Green
- Black
This almost matches the colors that prescient TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says we should expect for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. The only difference is that Kuo says that instead of the Yellow variant of those phones, Apple will offer the non-Pro iPhone 16 models in White.
Dummy units of the iPhone 16 base model show the changes being made to the phone's rear camera array. | Image credit-Sonny Dickson
The iPhone 16 will feature a 6.1-inch OLED display and the iPhone 16 Plus is expected to carry a 6.7-inch OLED screen. Both models will be powered by the A18 application processor (AP) with 8GB of RAM. That is important since 8GB of RAM is the minimum amount required for an iPhone to support Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will have larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch OLED displays respectively. Both phones will be equipped with the A18 Pro AP which, like the A18, will be built with TSMC's second-generation 3nm process node (N3E) and sport 8GB of RAM. The iPhone 16 Pro will join the iPhone 16 Pro Max by featuring the Tetraprism periscope zoom with 5x optical zoom.
The iPhone 16 series should come with a new Capture button that can be swiped on to move the zoom in and out. It can also be used as a shutter to snap a photo or start and stop video recording. The phones are expected to be introduced officially early in September.
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