iPhone 16 component leak may have revealed a new camera design

Back to the future

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

It might seem like a long time to theiPhone 16launch, but the nextAppleflagship series could be with us in as little as seven months – and a new component leak gives us some idea of the redesign that might be coming to the rear camera module.

Schematics obtained by tipsterMajin Bu(via MacRumors) show two camera lenses positioned on top of each other in a vertical arrangement, which would be a departure from the diagonal alignment on theiPhone 15and other recent models.

In fact, this vertically stacked approach takes us all the way back to theiPhone 12, which launched in 2020. Of course, the Pro models (including theiPhone 15 Pro) have an extra lens, so already use a vertical alignment of sorts.

This redesign hasn’t come out of nowhere: we’ve already seen this new/old camera setup inleaked rendersthat appeared earlier this month, so there’s a growing amount of evidence that this is the direction that Apple is going in.

This would appear to be the new camera module of the iPhone 16, as you can see the vertical positioning is confirmed pic.twitter.com/JWF5olGwQ4February 16, 2024

The rumors so far

The iPhone 16 rumors are really starting to pick up the pace now. Both the iPhone 16 and theiPhone 16 Pro Maxare rumored to begetting bigger batteries– although the one inside the iPhone 16 Plus is said to be shrinking in capacity size.

Inside the phones we would of course expect performance improvements, and that is indeedwhere the rumors are pointing. We’ve also heard talk ofa new Capture button, which would allow for greater flexibility when shooting photos and video.

Then there’s the software side too: we should be hearing a lot more aboutiOS 18in the coming months, and in line with the hottest trend of the moment, it’s said to be bringing a host ofartificial intelligence upgradesto the iPhone series.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

As September draws closer – which is when Apple traditionally launches new iPhones – we should see more leaks and rumors around the iPhone 16 series, and don’t be surprised if there’s more about this updated camera module design.

You might also like

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

A newly reported iPhone phenomenon could be bad news for both cops and robbers

The iPhone 18 series could include a variable aperture, ‘significantly enhancing’ the camera

New fanless cooling technology enhances energy efficiency for AI workloads by achieving a 90% reduction in cooling power consumption