Latest iPhone 16 leak reveals updated camera and new buttons

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

New iPhone 16 leaks suggest several upgrades, including support for VisionOS tools, the introduction of a popular iPhone Pro feature, and an expansion of the user interface. Now, a number of cases for the iPhone 16 support these suggestions.

The team has published a closer look at the iPhone 16 cases at TechNetBook and you can see how the updated features have affected the external design.

First of all, there’s the orientation of the camera lenses. These have been changed from the diagonal arrangement on a square camera island of the iPhone 15 to a vertical arrangement on a more diamond-shaped island. This shouldn’t affect the normal images and videos taken with the iPhone, but the arrangement of the lenses allows for side-by-side lenses when shooting in landscape mode – that’s the orientation you need to capture stereoscopic video, which would enable 3D playback on the Apple Vision Pro headset.

Then there’s a covered button area for the Action button. This programmable physical button was introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Max last year. It allows users to assign a shortcut or action when the button is pressed, such as opening the camera app so a quick picture can be taken. The button wasn’t available on the standard iPhone 15 or 15 Plus handsets.

The Action Button will now be universally available and will appear on the standard iPhone 16 models in addition to the iPhone 16 Pro models.

Finally, there is a new button. Presumably due to the positive feedback on the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple will add a camera button. The body shows a full cutout for the button, which makes sense since the button is supposed to be pressure sensitive and allow multi-stage pressing (so that, for example, a focus lock can be selected with a “half press” before the picture is taken with a full press).

Update: Sunday, June 22: Well-known informant Ice Universe released a look at another iPhone 16 case over the weekend. In his video, the case is rotated to show the back and edges of the case. Like the images from TechNetBook, the vertical arrangement of the camera lenses, the push-through button for the action button, and a place for the capacitive camera button can be seen.

The cases add to the discussion around another feature, 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 width rings allow for interconnectivity, the newer iPhone 16 family will come with the thinner and lighter option.

These three features bring the standard iPhones in line with the Pro models. As Apple tries to create a clear difference in specs between the standard and Pro models, several upgrades to the Pro models will be necessary to offset this difference and make consumers want to buy the more expensive model.

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

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

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