We won’t see the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro until September, but rumors have been circulating for some time about what we can get from Apple’s new flagship phones. From larger screen sizes and thinner bezels to new processors and a slimmer design, the iPhone 16 range looks set to feature a host of upgrades. Apple has already talked about the arrival of its Apple Intelligence skills in iOS 18, and we expect to hear more about how these AI features will be used in the lead-up to the phone’s launch.
But as a professional photographer, I’m most excited about cameras.
Apple has always equipped the iPhone with some of the best cameras you can find on a smartphone, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with its 5x optical zoom, remains one of the best camera phones money can buy right now.
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But competition is fierce, particularly in the photography arena, and Apple will be looking for ways to keep the phone’s photo-taking capabilities top-notch. So let’s dive into what the rumors say about the iPhone 16 range’s cameras.
A new physical camera button
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max brought a new “Action” button on the outer edge of the phone that lets you customize it to perform a variety of actions, such as launching the camera or taking a voice memo.
The Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro will likely be joined by a new physical camera button.
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But MacRumors suggests that an additional button will appear on the next model, aimed specifically at photographers. The button will act as the camera’s shutter, with multiple levels of sensitivity allowing you to half-press it to focus and fully press it to take an image. Rumors also suggest that the button will recognize swipe gestures, with left or right swipes allowing you to zoom in or out.
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While volume buttons have been able to trigger the camera shutter for some time, this new button would provide deeper camera controls and allow you to operate the iPhone more like a compact digital camera.
Better zoom for all Pro models
According to Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo, the base iPhone 16 Pro will be equipped with a 5x optical zoom lens. This was something that was only found on the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max, so it would be nice to see the same level of zoom offered in a smaller, more pocketable package.
The 10x zoom on the S23 and S24 Ultra may have some competition.
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But it’s possible that both phones could get an update, and some previous rumors suggested that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will get a “super telephoto” lens offering zoom levels beyond the current 5x range. While this would be a welcome addition for sports or wildlife photographers who rely on long zoom levels, these rumors were circulating back in the summer of last year, before we even saw the launch of the iPhone 15. So take them with a pinch of salt.
Larger image sensors
According to a MacRumors story, which covers claims by Weibo user Digital Chat Station, the iPhone 16 Pro’s main camera could have a larger image sensor. This would apparently be 1/1.14-inch in size, which would make it larger than the 1/1.28-inch sensor found on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
A larger sensor captures more light and image information, allowing for better detail, dynamic range, and improved low-light performance, so it would be great to see such a large increase in size. Known leak Majin Bu posted on X what they claim are leaked cases for the upcoming Pro models, showing a significantly larger cutout for the camera island. This would make sense if we do indeed see larger camera sensors (and therefore larger camera units) in phones.
And Apple would be smart to up its game here, as phones like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra are already using even larger 1/0.98-inch image sensors (known as 1-inch type) for their main cameras.
The larger image sensor on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra makes it a photographic powerhouse.
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Higher resolution ultra-wide cameras
The ultra-wide cameras on iPhones have felt a bit neglected in recent generations, with the resolution remaining at 12 megapixels since the iPhone 11. But a report from noted analyst Jeff Pu, spotted by 9to5Mac, says that the ultra-wide cameras on both the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will get a significant bump up to 48 megapixels.
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Vertical camera layout
Several rumors and leaked renders suggest that the base iPhone 16 and 16 Plus models will have a vertical camera layout, rather than the diagonal shape seen on the iPhone 15. It would make the design look more like the iPhone 12, but there are A bigger reason why this can happen beyond simple aesthetics.
A vertical camera layout like this would allow phones to record spatial video more easily, using information from both cameras to create a 3D-like effect. It would make sense, as Apple brought spatial video recording to the iPhone 15 Pro range, but not to the base iPhone 15 models, likely due to the camera layout.
Spatial videos can be viewed correctly on the Apple Vision Pro headset.
Josh Goldman/CNET
While spatial videos look like regular 2D videos when played on your iPhone, they are designed to provide a 3D effect when viewed with Apple’s Vision Pro headset.
Other things we want to see
While Apple talked a lot about AI at its WWDC event, it didn’t really talk about ways it could extend to imaging. The iPhone’s camera already uses AI to varying degrees in its computational photography, skin tone rendering, depth mapping, and even in the automatic settings it uses when taking an image.
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But deeper AI would allow for better scene recognition and therefore better use of settings and processing to take more attractive images. I’ve also been impressed by the AI object removal seen on the Google Pixel range and we may see similar AI-based editing tools on the next iPhone.
Speaking of editing, it’s possible Apple will introduce more ways to edit video on the phone, particularly when recording with Log on the 15 Pro and Pro Max. Log video is designed to look flat and grey when recorded, as it provides a better foundation for editing and adding colour and contrast later on.
iPhone images recorded in Log color space must be edited on computers or iPad. It would be nice to see more options for processing this footage on the iPhone itself.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Right now, you need to transfer that footage to an iPad or computer to edit your Log videos in software like BlackMagic’s DaVinci Resolve, so it would be nice to see Apple introduce more ways to process Log footage on the phone. Perhaps even to introduce its own range of “LUTs” (presets used to quickly apply color and contrast to videos) into the iPhone’s editing tools.
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