'Tis always the season for iPhone leaks, and the latest suggests Apple could take a page from Google for its upcoming iPhone 17 series. A new photo purportedly of the iPhone 17 Pro's frame has surfaced, and it sports a horizontal camera array that'd look more at home on the Pixel 9 Pro than a new iPhone.
That Apple could be ditching its rounded square rear camera bump for a larger rectangle is one of the more wild rumors we've heard in recent months. Previously, The Information's Wayne Ma claimed both the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will get a "rectangular camera bump made of aluminum rather than traditional 3D glass," while the bottom half will still be made of glass to support wireless charging. Now a leaker on Weibo has posted our first look at the new redesign, showing off what appears to be a metal frame for the iPhone 17 Pro from the supply chain, as spotted by Android Authority.
It's unclear what could be behind the change, but before the iPhone 16 Pro launched, there were some suggestions that having a side-by-side camera layout would better support spatial video across all three of the phone's lenses. Then, of course, the iPhone 16 series came out and Apple's Pro models proved to handle spatial video just fine with the old set-up.
If true, this redesign would be a stark departure from the triangle lens array Apple's used for its Pro line since the iPhone 11 Pro debuted in 2019. Noted leaker Majin Bu shared a rendering of the iPhone 17 Pro with the new camera array based on the leaked metal frame, which shows off just how much the redesign makes the iPhone look closer to something from Google's Pixel line.
If the design of iPhone 17 Pro were this, would you like it? pic.twitter.com/0SUHLff0VGDecember 12, 2024
We'll have to wait to know more about Apple's plans, but it's already raising plenty of eyebrows. Such a major overhaul, and one that resembles one of its main competitors, would be a bold move. But given how little we know about the "why" behind this possible redesign, it's best to take it with a grain of salt for now. In the meantime, be sure to check out our iPhone 17 hub for all the latest rumors and leaks about Apple's upcoming phones.
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