iPhone 16 camera bump design rumored to have shifted closer to iPhone X

The iPhone XS cameras were enclosed in a pill-shaped bump

Design leaks usually slow down after the new year as Apple finalizes product designs, but that doesn't seem to be the case with this cycle. After a December rumor showing three possible designs, a new fourth design has been shared by the same anonymous source.

According to a rumor from MacRumors, leaked designs show a thin pill-shaped camera bump with vertical cameras and an offset flash. The physical location of the cameras and flash hasn't changed from previous leaks, just the design of the bump itself.

This leak aligns with images shared by a leaker known as Majin Bu on X. He's a source that has shared accurate details in the past, but his track record isn't great.

The vertical camera arrangement is likely for recording Spatial Video, something that only the iPhone 15 Pro models can do today. The 48MP Main Camera and 12MP Ultra Wide Camera work together to capture 3D video that can be viewed on Apple Vision Pro.

Tuesday's leak doesn't add much beyond a minor design tweak and a change to the Action button that returns to the current mechanical button design. Previous rumors suggested a capacitive Capture button would join a larger capacitive Action button.

Apple was rumored to make the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro capacitive but ultimately ditched the idea. Whatever issues there are with bringing capacitive buttons to iPhone, it is clearly persisting with development and could cause the Capture button to be mechanical too.

The cosmetic change to the camera bump and shift to a mechanical Action button aren't shocking developments. It seems strange that Apple would continue working on cosmetic details this late into the development cycle for iPhone 16. Still, the rumors may also be time-delayed, and the prototypes in question could originate from months ago.

Corroboration from Majin Bu and previous rumors by Ming-Chi Kuo make this rumor rated as "Possible."

Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 16 lineup in September. Along with the new camera arrangement in the base models, the pro models are expected to have larger designs with both having a tetraprism camera.