Long before the iPhone 16 launch, there were suggestions that it would have a side-by-side camera layout to better support spatial video across all three lenses. That of course didn’t happen, but a leaker with a decent track record now suggests this layout will be introduced with the iPhone 17 Pro.
Google’s Pixel 9 Pro has already adopted this horizontal camera bar format, and the leaker suggests that “many” Android smartphones will follow suit …
Weibo user Digital chat station proved to be right with previous leaks, including the telephoto lens coming to the iPhone 16 Pro, and the larger sensor size.
They today suggest we’re going to see a horizontal camera bump for all three lenses.
Judging from the supply chain materials, the iPhone 17 series has indeed been changed to this design. The details of the lens arrangement are unknown. The module is this kind of bar track, and many new Android devices will be changed to this design next year.
The reference to the details being unknown means they don’t yet have any information about the ordering of the three lenses.
We’ve seen other horizontal camera arrangements, with some commenters pointing to Chinese brand Meizu as an early adopter, though in that case the lenses are in line vertically rather than horizontally – which actually seems to make more sense to me given that most photos and video are shot in landscape mode.
The iPhone 17 Air, in contrast, is expected to have a single camera.
It was recently reported that Apple may ditch titanium in favor of aluminum for the iPhone 17 Pro, though we noted that this may well be a simple misunderstanding about terminology.
Image: 9to5Mac composite of render by Digital chat station and background by Codioful on Unsplash
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