iPhone 17 camera layout controversy – Triangle and horizontal configuration

There are two sources, and because they have credibility, there is a conflict regarding the camera layout of the iPhone 17.

The iPhone 17 Pro mentions that it adopts a module in the shape of a Dynamic Island arranged horizontally. However, other sentences indicate that although the design of the camera module has indeed changed, the triangular configuration remains unchanged.

"Last week, Weibo user Digital chat station posted a rendering of a camera module with three lenses aligned on both sides of its rounded ends. This is a visualization of the layout and not an exposed image. However, they stated that 'the design of iPhone 17 has been changed'."

They presented this rendering as an example:

"They previously disclosed accurate information about the telephoto lenses arriving on the phones in the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro (previously exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max). They also revealed that the sensor size of this year's main camera has increased."

However, Instant Digital points out that the leak information provided by them includes a yellow iPhone 14 and the landscape front-facing camera of this year's iPad Air.

"According to my sources, the back appearance is indeed changed, but the configuration of the three cameras remains triangular. It differs from the horizontal bar currently circulating on the internet."

No specific details about the nature of the changes were provided.

"Last time, I realized that one part of the claimed horizontal layout did not make sense to me."

They looked at other horizontal camera layouts. Some comments mentioned that Chinese brand Meizu was an early adopter. However, in that case, the lenses are arranged vertically, which could be considered as more common for many photos and videos taken in landscape mode.

Normally, space videos are preferred in a landscape format, so vertical configuration (placing the camera horizontally when holding the phone upright) is more common.

However, this disagreement shows how difficult it is to predict Apple's plans using supply chain sources and why there could be many reasons for these leakages to be inaccurate.

Apple often touches on different ideas and discusses them with different suppliers, sometimes even discussing the production feasibility of specific concepts.

The company may ask suppliers to provide samples of parts that could indicate a particular direction. However, orders are not placed later for production purposes.

"Apple occasionally intentionally misleads, which is used to hide planned movements. They leak information that is entirely different from the actual plans."

Photo: Jose Castillo / Unsplas