The impatience to know more about the next generation of devices is almost a given and the discussion around the iPhone 16 camera is no different, ramping up early with many expectations. While the few details we have are from popular leakers and tipsters, they paint a very clear picture of the future potential of the iPhone 16 camera module in the release we’ll see at the end of 2024. The major problem with having a new smartphone release every single year is that sometimes the technology hasn’t advanced enough to make big changes to the device with each iteration, but companies have no choice but to find something, anything, remotely novel about the device in order to appease the masses. The iPhone 16 camera design doesn’t appear to be particularly innovative, but if the iPhone 16 has better cameras that improve the quality of images in any way, users should be satisfied with the new changes.
Image: Render created by internal team on the leaked iPhone 16 camera layout
Will iPhone 16 Have Better Cameras?
According to the discussions so far, particularly through insights from industry analyst Min-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 16 Pro series will have better cameras. For years, the iPhone base model cameras have been stuck with 12 MP cameras for both the main lens and the ultra-wide lens which has been quite a disappointment, especially when the Pro models are capable of so much more. The iPhone 15 came as a breath of fresh air in that regard, as the main camera saw an upgrade to 48 MP even if the ultrawide lens was still at 12 MP. If the trend continues, the iPhone 16 camera module could see a dual camera set-up with a 48 MP ultra-wide lens that should be better than ever before, but we have no indications that this will take place as the rumors refer primarily to the iPhone 16 Pro cameras.
All we know is that the Pro series is getting the 48 MP ultrawide camera upgrades, which is great to hear but we were hoping the higher-end models would be seeing better upgrades than just an increase in megapixels.
Image: Expected layout of the iPhone 16 dual camera setup. These do not reflect the final devices as it is likely the company will pursue a titanium finish for the iPhone 16.
How Many Cameras Does iPhone 16 Have?
The iPhone 16 camera will feature a stacked design with one lens on top of the other, unlike the diagonal stack we saw on the iPhone 15. The iPhone 16 vertical camera renders have indicated a dual camera setup so the number of cameras on the base iPhone 16 should remain at two but the layout should likely receive a minor refresh. It also appears that the iPhone 16 camera design may do away with the square design element around the camera that has been featured in recent iPhone designs, to have a more oval raised camera bump like with the iPhone X, which should be an interesting throwback, if not a new one.
Experts have hypothesized that the iPhone 16 vertical camera design could help with the recording of spatial videos on the device, a detail that should tie back into the Apple Vision Pro headset launch we saw this year. The current iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are capable of this already, but not the vanilla iPhone 15. The upgrade should make the purchase of the Vision Pro a little more appealing for users considering improved compatibility and the ability to only view these spatial videos through the headset.
Information reports
The dimensions of the iPhone 16 Pro will remain the same, despite the increase in screen, there will be more capacitive touch buttons throughout the 16 series. They say there will be no more solid buttons left, but I’m not sure what that means.
The main… pic.twitter.com/v8tH3HKU1n— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) February 20, 2024
There is no concrete information on how exactly the iPhone 16 vertical camera setup should help in such captures but the current assumptions appear to be as close to the truth as we can get for now. If the new camera design is solely for aesthetic purposes, then it might just leave users disappointed both due to a lack of spatial video capture and due to a more regressive design choice.
Customers already overstimulated with similar devices want something truly unique to enter the market but that’s easier said than done.
What Is the New Camera Sensor on the iPhone 16?
The iPhone 16 Pro cameras may see a bigger sensor but a lower pixel size from the 12MP sensor’s 1-micron pixel size to the iPhone 16 Pro’s 0.7 microns, according to Digital Trends. Using a process of pixel binning that is seen in smartphone technology, four adjacent pixels will be combined to create a single superpixel. When multiplied across the image this can result in a combined effort towards a higher quality photo overall. This may mean that the 48 MP ultra-wide camera results would finally result in 12 MP photos but with better quality than a 12 MP sensor. Still, an upgrade is an upgrade and with the internal software boosting the images we could still see pretty great photos result from the new iPhone 16 Pro cameras.
Apart from the iPhone 16 camera sensors, we also hear rumors of a capture button on the iPhone 16. Unlike the mechanical buttons for volume and the much-loved action button that should come with the base iPhone 16, there appears to be room for another pressure-sensitive capture key. Leaks indicate that this will be added to simplify the process of capturing photos and could perhaps respond in different ways to pressure, such as holding to focus and pushing to capture. Sliding your finger to the left or right could also toggle through the zoom options, which, if true, would be our new favorite feature of the iPhone 16. That would be a very convenient detail if added to the mix. It could be placed where the 5G mmWave antenna is currently housed on the device, on the same side as the power button.
In additional updates to the iPhone 16 Pro camera modules, leaks have indicated that the already raised squarish bump could have an additional raised triangular shape frame going around the three cameras. It’s interesting, it’s innovative, and it’s definitely “elevating” the design from the iPhone 15 Pro lineup, but does it look good? Twitter/X users appear quite put off by the design choice and many have voiced a dislike for the new iPhone 16 Pro camera design.
@ianzelbo says no chance https://t.co/O44BbCjC81
— Josh Long (the JoshMeister) (@theJoshMeister) February 17, 2024
Android Users! is the IPhone 16 with rotating cameras a sign for you to switch to IPhone or you are sticking with your Android?#iPhone16 pic.twitter.com/P3Dh9Zv3Bn
— معاز (@maaz_oye) February 19, 2024
Some goofy renders have even advertised that the additional camera module might spin but there’s no chance of Apple taking the design so far. It would be nearly impossible to design well since the camera lenses appear attached to nothing behind them. It’s quite unlikely that we will see any version of this fidget spinner design in the iPhone 16 cameras, but we may see users get more creative with their renditions of the upcoming device as we work our way towards a launch date later this year. Will the iPhone 16 have better cameras? Likely, but just how good they will be remains to be determined.
