It's been five years since Apple gave us a substantially new camera island design for the iPhone. When the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max dropped in 2019, they introduced the then-new 'stove top' island design, with a triple-lens triangular array positioned within a square island in the top left corner of the phone's rear panel. Today's iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max follows essentially the same layout, albeit with some subtle styling tweaks.
But if rumors this week are to be believed, this aging design could be set to change for next year's iPhone 17 series. According to long-time (and often reliable) tipster Digital Chat Station, the iPhone 17 may feature a camera island in the shape of a horizontal bar across the top of the rear panel, much like the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL. The rumor stems from an image of a metal chassis frame, alleged to have come from an iPhone parts supplier, which clearly shows a cut out for a camera island that's been nicknamed a 'strip runway' design. Digital Chat Station also supplied a render of what a complete iPhone 17 might look like with this horizontal camera island shape, though at this stage the lens layout is pure speculation. The tipster goes on to say that many new Android phones could adopt a similar camera island design next year, though again, we've got no proof to back that up.
If Apple does indeed switch to the 'strip runway' camera island, it'd certainly add a much-needed aesthetic update to the stagnating iPhone design. However, it's doubtful that a Apple would reconfigure the camera array solely to change the iPhone 17's appearance. The position of the individual rear-facing camera modules is dictated by other components within the phone's body. Moving all three camera modules to a strip at the top could simply be a side effect of altering the shape of the phone's logic board, or making extra space for a larger battery.
Whatever the reasoning, we're probably going to have to wait several months before we get more definitive leaks or tips that confirm whether or not the iPhone 17 will have a radically different camera island design.
Story credit: Digital Chat Station / Weibo
