Updated detailed information regarding duel reports on December 21st.
What exactly will next year’s iPhone be like? A recent report about the design of the iPhone 17 series claimed that the camera will be seen in a completely new arrangement. This was a surprising development, but because it came from a leaker with a decent track record, it was taken seriously. However, that has now been completely denied. Since this discrepancy comes from a respected source, you may be wondering what it actually is. And more points of view are being expressed, which adds to the confusion.
Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro.
For example, one report states: “The regular iPhone 17 is still available, but there will be no iPhone 17 Plus this year. Apple will also sell the iPhone 17 Air alongside the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models, and rumors suggest that these models will also have some design changes. For now, it looks like the back panel will be a half-aluminum, half-glass design, potentially making it more durable, and the camera setup may also be redesigned.” This was reported in the posted post. It is a hybrid of aluminum and glass.
The cameras are set up in yet another orientation, with a vertical series of cameras at the ends. The rendering you see screams to me, “There’s no way Apple would do this.” It’s quite possible to combine multiple materials on the back, but the look isn’t very convincing. It looks interesting, but it doesn’t quite have the wow factor that Apple’s industrial design effortlessly evokes.
It also looks almost similar to its biggest rival, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra flagship. Frankly, Apple doesn’t want that any more than it risks looking like the Google Pixel series.
The original report from Weibo user Digital Chat Station included a rendering of an iPhone with a single row of cameras along the top edge of the phone. Although the renderings looked convincing and did not claim to be authentic, they were not based on leaked visuals or images.
Having three cameras side by side may look nice, but it creates a chain reaction. For example, the triangular lenses on the back of the iPhone 15 Pro have the advantage of being equidistant, which helps you seamlessly switch from one lens to another.
Also, as 9to5Mac’s Ben Lovejoy points out, if the lens were to be changed to a straight line, vertical lines would be better than horizontal lines, since “most photos and videos are taken in landscape mode.” It’s reasonable. Also, as explained below, vertical lenses like the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro allow you to shoot spatial videos on your iPhone and play them back on Vision Pro.
As mentioned earlier, the previous proposal was for an iPhone with a horizontal row of cameras, rather than the triangular arrangement of the iPhone 16 Pro, for example. That meant an iPhone that looked strikingly similar to the Google Pixel 9 Pro. Some were skeptical that this was true, but more reports were needed to confirm it.
Well, there’s a new post on Weibo by Instant Digital, a regular leaker with a strong but not perfect track record. This was discovered by MacRumors and offers another perspective. (Machine translation) says: “According to sources, the appearance of the back has indeed changed, but the three-camera layout is still triangular and not a horizontal bar” is now circulating on the internet. ”
This makes a lot of sense to me, but let’s look a little deeper. The triangular arrangement probably not only looks familiar, but it also seems to mean that the current ability to hold the iPhone horizontally and record spatial video will continue.
I’d be surprised if Apple didn’t keep this feature intact for at least the next few generations.
What the report isn’t so clear on is exactly what it means for backs to look different this year. Given that the current Pro model’s screen size has increased compared to 2023, we expect the display to be the same in 2025, so the changes will be elsewhere.
One rumor suggests that the camera area will be covered in aluminum instead of glass, but it is believed that the majority of the iPhone’s back will still be made of glass. Without it, wireless charging would go away, and that’s an important feature that’s unlikely to go away either.
Confusion can occur when multiple reports from leakers with strong reputations collide. But while there are still many questions to answer, the potential for a Pixel-like camera design appears to have receded.
