Leaked iPhone 16 dummy units hint at big hardware changes coming this year

Amidst clashing rumors over whether the upcoming iPhone 16 series will be an incremental upgrade or a significant refresh, images of alleged dummy units for the iPhone 16 series have emerged, potentially confirming some major hardware changes.

These leaked images, shared on Weibo and by Majin Bu on X (formerly Twitter), seemingly confirm some of the rumors swirling around the iPhone 16 series. While it’s advisable to take these with a pinch of salt, some exciting changes are highlighted in these images.

Firstly, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max could be getting bigger. Previous reports claimed that Apple might be shrinking the bezels on these phones, allowing for a bigger screen real estate without significantly increasing the phone’s physical size. However, the dummy units show a noticeable size difference between the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pro placed side-by-side.

This would corroborate the previous rumors about a jump from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro and from 6.7 inches to 6.9 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. With that screen size, the iPhone 16 Pro Max could become the biggest iPhone yet, even sparking rumors of a new “Ultra” moniker iPhone.

The standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are expected to retain their display sizes (6.1 inches and 6.7 inches, respectively), but they might be getting a feature previously exclusive to the Pro line: the Action Button. This button replaced the mute slider on the Pro iPhones last year, offering the option for customized shortcuts beyond silencing the phone.

Another interesting change is the camera layout on the iPhone 16. The leaked images show a vertical camera arrangement, a departure from the diagonal layout seen on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15. While this might seem like a step back as it resembles the older iPhone X design from 2017, rumors suggest this change will allow Apple to introduce spatial video recording capabilities to the base iPhone models.

Perhaps the most intriguing addition across all four iPhone 16 models appears to be the new “Capture” button positioned below the power button on the right side. While its exact functionality remains under wraps, speculation suggests it will be dedicated to camera operations.

Unlike other buttons, it appears to sit flush with the frame, hinting at a possible capacitive nature. This could potentially unlock functionalities like camera focusing or swipe gestures for zoom control, but that remains speculation for now.

As of now, it looks like this new button will also be present on all four iPhone models this year. We’ve previously seen some alleged case leaks on X that seem to confirm the presence of a new button on 2024 iPhones.

With a potential screen size increase and a mysterious new button, Apple seems poised to generate a lot of buzz when the iPhone 16 series is officially announced later this year.