Over the last couple of months, concerning rumors that Apple is redesigning the camera array for the iPhone 17 have been piling up. The first iteration of those rumors was almost immediately shot down, though.
But the redesign keeps getting teased. Today, a leaked CAD render of an iPhone 17 case posted by tipster Majin Bu appears to confirm the more horizontal pill camera array look.
iPhone 17 CADI don’f know if this is official but looks legit pic.twitter.com/xqxuG86TQyFebruary 6, 2025
The CAD render is new, but Majin Bu has shared similar images and claims before. Those images showed three lenses lined up in a row with the LED flash on the right side of the rear panel.
This render appears to show a new camera control button and lock button. According to Bu, the render is of the base iPhone 17 model, suggesting that the redesign is coming to every iPhone 17 device, not just the Pro Models. You can see that the case only shows one camera lens, though the iPhone 17 would most likely feature two.
For years, Apple and Samsung have been accused of copying each other. But with the Apple-ification of Google's Pixel 9 series, it appears Apple is biting off Google's strange horizontal camera design.
Apple's design currently makes it distinct in the phone marketplace; you know that you're looking at an iPhone. And Google's pill-shaped camera array is equally as unique. From an aesthetic perspective, it would be a disappointment if the phones from either company get more, not less similar.
It should be noted that Majin Bu has a 50/50 track record when it comes to leaks, but they're not the only ones highlighting this significant design change. So, it definitely seems more and more likely that this might be the future of iPhone design.
We'll have to wait and see.
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