Latest iPhone 16 leak reveals updated camera and new buttons

Updated June 23 with new case and charger details: Article originally posted on June 22.

New iPhone 16 leaks have suggested several upgrades, including support for visionOS tools, a popular iPhone Pro feature coming, and an addition to the user interface. Now a range of cases for the iPhone 16 support these suggestions.

A closer look at the iPhone 16 cases has been published by the team at TechNetBook, and you can see how the updated features have affected the external design.

First, there is the orientation of the camera lenses. these have changed from the iPhone 15’s diagonal arrangement on a square camera island to a vertical arrangement on a more diamond-shaped island. This shouldn’t affect normal photos and videos taken with the iPhone, but the lens arrangement allows for lenses to be placed side by side when shooting in landscape mode. That’s the direction you need to create stereoscopic videos that enable 3D viewing. on the Apple Vision Pro headset.

Then you have a covered button area for the action button. This programmable physical button debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Max last year. This allows users to assign a shortcut or action when the button is pressed, such as when the camera app opens, so a photo can be quickly taken. The button was not available on the standard iPhone 15 or 15 Plus handsets.

The action button will now be a universal offering and will appear on the regular iPhone 16 models in addition to the iPhone 16 Pro models.

Finally you have a new button. Presumably based on positive feedback from the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple will add a camera button. The housing shows a full cutout for the button, which makes sense as the button is expected to be pressure sensitive and allow for multi-stage pressure (allowing, for example, a focus lock to be selected with a “half press” before taking the photo with full pressure ).

Update: Sunday June 22: Well-known tipster Ice Universe published a look at another iPhone 16 case this weekend. Their video shows how the case is rotated to reveal the back and edges of the case. As in the TechNetBook images, the vertical arrangement of the camera lenses, the push-through action button, and a space for the capacitive camera button can all be seen.

The cases contribute to the discussion around another feature, namely Apple’s inductive charging system. The space for the MagSafe ring is clearly visible, but the charging ring is also thinner than on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro handsets launched in 2023. While the two different bezel widths offer connectivity, the newer iPhone 16 family will come with the thinner and lighter option.

These three features bring the vanilla iPhones in line with the Pro models. With Apple looking to make a clear distinction between the vanilla and Pro models in terms of specifications, several upgrades to the Pro models will be needed to repair this gap and create consumer desire for the more expensive model. to buy.

One suggestion is that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will update their own camera hardware, with the ultrawide camera quadrupling the sensor size from 12 to 48 megapixels, a new optical coating to reduce lens flare and a greater optical zoom available on the 16 Pro Max via a larger periscope-style telephoto lens.

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 16 family in early September 2024.

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