Leaked iPhone 16 Dummy Units Suggest Big Hardware Changes Coming This Year

Amid conflicting rumors about 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 (formerly Twitter), seemingly confirms some of the rumors circulating around the iPhone 16 series. While it’s advisable to take them with a grain of salt, some interesting changes are highlighted in these images.

First, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max could get bigger. Previous reports claimed that Apple could shrink the bezels of these phones, allowing for a larger screen without significantly increasing the physical size of the phone. However, the dummy units show a noticeable size difference between the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pro placed side by side.

This would support previous rumors of 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 this screen size, the iPhone 16 Pro Max could become the biggest iPhone yet, even sparking rumors of a new “Ultra” iPhone moniker.

The standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are expected to retain their screen sizes (6.1 inches and 6.7 inches, respectively), but they could benefit from a feature previously exclusive to the Pro line: the action button. This button replaced the mute slider on Pro iPhones last year, providing the ability for custom shortcuts beyond silencing the phone.

Another interesting change is the camera layout on the iPhone 16. The leaked images show a vertical camera layout, a departure from the diagonal layout seen on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15. Although This might seem like a step backwards as it looks just like the old iPhone. X from 2017, rumors suggest that this change will allow Apple to introduce spatial video recording capabilities into base iPhone models.

Perhaps the most intriguing addition across all four iPhone 16 models seems 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 operating cameras.

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

For now, it appears that this new button will also be present on all four iPhone models this year. We have already seen it leaks of alleged cases on X which seem to confirm the presence of a new button on the 2024 iPhones.

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