Apple made a design change to the iPhone 16 series after four years, with the new standard and Plus variants coming with a redesigned vertical camera island on the back. Now, Digital Chat Station reports that the upcoming lineup could see another design change.
More specifically, the Weibo tipster says that based on the supply chain materials, Apple could change the camera island design of the iPhone 17 lineup. Digital Chat Station didn't share any further details on the lens arrangement or if only the Pro models will see the design change.
However, the tipster's report suggests that the rear camera island could look similar to that of the Google Pixel 9 Pro phones. It's worth noting that The Information reported something similar late last month. According to the outlet's report, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are set to see some "major design changes."
These top-end phones within the iPhone 17 series are reported to be the first smartphones from Apple to feature part glass and part aluminum on the back. The Information added that the upcoming high-end phones will have a camera bump that's made of aluminum, similar to what Google did with its Pixel 9 series (128 GB Pro curr. $849 on Amazon).
Of course, The Information did specify that the camera island on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models could be rectangular, which would be of aluminum. The Pixel 9 series, on the other hand, has a pill-shaped camera island.
Interestingly, Digital Chat Stations says that the many Android phone manufacturers will follow in the footsteps of Apple and go for a camera island similar to the iPhone 17 series. However, the tipster didn't specify which brands these could be.
Source(s)
Digital Chat Station on Weibo (machine translated from Chinese)