The iPhone 16 Might Look More Like an iPhone 12 | Here’s Why

While it’s very unlikely Apple’s non-Pro iPhones will get a third camera anytime soon, if early prototype leaks are to be believed, the iPhone 16 could be in line for a significant new camera feature.

A series of purported iPhone 16 prototype designs shared with MacRumors suggests that Apple will, at the very least, be returning to a vertical design, where the primary (wide) and ultrawide cameras are placed in tandem, one above the other, rather than in the diagonal arrangement that’s become the norm.

This would mark a return to the camera layout used on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12. It was the iPhone 13 that first shifted the cameras around, placing them diagonally; Apple’s reasons for this have never been clear, but it was likely due to some internal hardware changes that could have been related to the addition of sensor-shift optical image stabilization (OIS) to the main camera.

However, in the case of the iPhone 16, Apple may have another motivation for moving the cameras back to their original positions.

One of the more interesting features announced for the iPhone 15 Pro lineup this year was Spatial Video Recording, an enhancement that allows users to capture 3D videos from their iPhone that will deliver a full immersive experience on Apple’s Vision Pro headset.

Although the Vision Pro can capture the same videos, it makes a lot more sense to have this feature on the iPhone. After all, you’re far more likely to have your iPhone on hand during life’s significant moments like a birthday party, landmark anniversary, or wedding than be toting around a Vision Pro — much less wearing one at such an event.

There have also been reports that Apple plans to eventually release a lower-cost Vision Pro, and one of the corners it may cut to bring the price down are the spatial video cameras. That won’t be a huge loss if every modern iPhone can capture the same kind of 3D videos as the Vision Pro.

Hence, it’s in Apple’s best interests to get Spatial Video Recording onto as many iPhones as possible. While it’s an iPhone 15 Pro (and Pro Max) feature right now (having just landed in iOS 17.2), Apple has recently established a trend of bringing iPhone Pro features introduced in one year to the standard models in the next.

For example, the 48MP camera sensor and Dynamic Island made their way from the iPhone 14 Pro to the iPhone 15 this year, and there have already been reports that the iPhone 16 will get the Action Button from this year’s iPhone 15 Pro. While some features like a telephoto lens and always-on ProMotion display will undoubtedly continue to be exclusive to the iPhone Pro, there’s no reason that Spatial Video recording needs to be, especially if Apple plans to produce a lower-cost “Vision” headset.

As it currently stands on the iPhone 15 Pro, Spatial Video recording uses two lenses — the main (wide) and ultrawide — to capture and combine the necessary detail to produce a 3D video. For this reason, Spatial Videos can only be recorded in landscape orientation, as those two lenses must be placed side-by-side.

Interestingly, this may be the main reason that Apple rearranged the camera layout on this year’s iPhone 15 Pro models. Prior to the iPhone 15 Pro, the telephoto lens was always located in the top corner, with the ultrawide lens to the side, between the flash and the LiDAR sensor. This year, Apple swapped those two lenses, moving the telephoto over to one side; while many believed this was to accommodate the new 5X tetraprism camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it may have been more about aligning the other two cameras for Spatial Video Recording.

The same would need to happen for the iPhone 16 to gain Spatial Video recording, which would explain why the current crop of leaked prototypes all show the two cameras back in a vertical tandem layout.

What’s less clear at this point is if Apple will preserve the standard square camera bump, effectively returning to the iPhone 12 look. Some of the prototypes show a more iPhone X/XS style pill surrounding the cameras, although MacRumors notes that “while both designs have been considered, the iPhone 12-like camera layout with two distinct lenses has been used more extensively on Apple’s prototype units,” making it the more likely path.

Sources also add that the iPhone 16 is currently codenamed “DeLorean” inside of Apple and that some of the prototypes also feature the Action button and some of the solid-state buttons that were initially intended to debut on the iPhone 15 Pro before being nixed due to production problems.

While these were expected to be a Pro-exclusive feature this year, the latest information suggests that Apple is pushing forward with the new button design across the entire iPhone 16 lineup, at least for the Action button and a new Capture button, both of which are expected to be capacitative. However, the volume buttons are expected to remain mechanical at this point.

However, even if all of these details are accurate, they still involve early pre-production designs for the iPhone 16 and multiple ones that Apple has considered. This means there’s still lots of time for things to change, and therefore no guarantee as to what next year’s iPhone will look like in its final form.