This is what the “prototypes” of the next generation of Apple smartphones could look like

After the iPhone before the iPhone. Although we are still months away from unveiling the iPhone 16, there are already many reports and rumors circulating. Today we’re talking about a supposedly new rear camera design for the base model, which will likely bring with it a touch of the iPhone X. The arrangement of the lenses plays a particularly important role.

Apple has entered the development phase of the next generation iPhone, which is expected to bring some changes. how Macrumors According to reliable information, Apple will introduce a new camera design with the basic models of the iPhone 16, where the wide-angle and ultra-wide lenses will be arranged one under the other as is the case in older models, such as the iPhone 12.

It is currently unclear which design Apple will choose, especially since these are currently still “early prototypes”: either Apple will continue with the slightly modified iPhone 15 (our test) design, where the lenses are optically separated at the back – or like the iPhone 2017. In the first Apple model with a Face ID matrix, the two rear cameras are housed in a single housing.

Aside from the new camera design, the iPhone 16 will get the iPhone 15 Pro’s action button. The leftmost mockup shows a variant with a new volume control, which Apple is also said to be testing. (Mockup: Macrumors)

how 9 to 5 mac As mentioned, the camera design isn’t just about the look of the iPhones, but it’s also important for the video functionality that Apple announced with the iPhone 15 Pro (our test) and introduced with iOS 17.2. Cameras arranged one below the other allow you to record spatial videos that can be viewed on the Vision Pro headset.

Given this, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple should integrate its iPhones more closely with spatial Computer Vision Pro, and it would also make sense to give the base models this feature. It’s also not the first time rumors have circulated about a vertical camera design: first, anonymous X user @URedditor claimed in May 2023 that the iPhone 16 could have portrait-oriented cameras.

While the camera arrangement for the iPhone 16 is still uncertain but certainly plausible, Apple has already taken the first steps toward closer integration between the iPhone and Vision Pro hardware. In addition to the video function of the iPhone 15 Pro, the new and more precise broadband chip in the iPhone 15 models also plays a certain role. This is said to have been developed to not only better locate lost items, but also to communicate with Vision Pro.

Apple’s Vision Pro will launch in early 2024, initially in the USA – later in Europe as well. (Photo: Image Alliance)

With the iPhone 16 (Pro), Apple is expected to introduce support for the new Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7. This means, among other things, that a latency-free connection can be established to the spatial Computer Vision Pro.

It will be some time before new iPhones appear: Apple usually uses September to present its smartphones. All sorts of details could change by then.