iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker.

iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2
In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the ‌iPhone‌'s design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other hand, the Pro models purportedly adopt a "large horizontal matrix design."

Last week, leaker Jon Prosser a shared render of the iPhone 17 Pro. The ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌'s three rear cameras will apparently be arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but housed in an all-new rectangular bar that extends all the way across the back of the device. The ultra-thin "‌iPhone 17 Air‌" is also rumored to feature a horizontal rear camera bar.

The first major rumor about the iPhone 17 lineup's design changes came from The Information's Wayne Ma, who said in November last year that the rear of the ‌‌iPhone 17 Pro‌‌ models will feature a new part-aluminum, part-glass design. The top half of the back will be made of aluminum and feature a "rectangular camera bump made of aluminum rather than traditional 3D glass," while the bottom half will continue to be made of glass to support wireless charging. This new aluminum camera bump will also be larger than that of previous models.

The new Weibo post also referred to an impending "large foldable model," which should increase competition in the market. The account has previously posted accurate information about the iPhone 12 mini's display, iPhone 15's upgraded sensor, and iPhone 16 Pro size increases. The ‌iPhone 17‌ lineup is expected to debut as usual in the fall.

Related Roundup: iPhone 17 Pro

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Top Rated Comments

zedsdead Avatar
1 week ago
Rearranging the camera placement isn’t a significant design change.
Score: 107 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Alwaysfindsaway Avatar
1 week ago
Why, I don’t understand this. Every design choice has to be driven by a change. Why the change in the back camera?? Are we finally getting a zoom lens maybe? Otherwise it’s just a change for the sake of change and will be pointless.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
1 week ago
Having a worst camera bump isn’t significant
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
1 week ago

Rearranging the camera placement isn’t a significant design change.
You can’t trust Apple with the word „biggest“ or „significant“. Remember when they called watchOS 10 (?) the biggest change to AppleWatch? I wouldn’t even be able to tell what changed. Same with the watch itself.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mike.coulter Avatar
1 week ago
I don't care how thin they can make a phone, make phones that are comfy to hold again. Bring back the shape of the iPhone 3G.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
charlie1284 Avatar
1 week ago

Having a worst camera bump isn’t significant
At least it won't wobble side to side now
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)