Report: the iPhone 16 is getting bigger because it needs more room for cameras

Apple iPhone 15 Ultra phone in silver and gold on white background

(Image credit: 4RMD)

published 29 May 2023

The iPhone 15 isn't even out yet – it's not due until the Autumn – but the Apple rumour factory is already moving on to the iPhone 16. We've had reports indicating that it's going to look much like the iPhone 14, but that it's going to be significantly bigger. And now a new rumour explains why. The larger size is at least partly due to the need for more camera kit.

This latest rumour comes from Chinese social media site Weibo via MacRumors. According to the poster, the larger dimensions of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max/Ultra free up space for a new camera sensor that's 12% bigger, and the much-rumoured periscope telephoto lens.

How credible is the latest iPhone 16 rumour?

The rumour of larger displays for the iPhone 16 isn't a new one and we've heard it from multiple sources, most notably Bloomberg's impeccably connected Mark Gurman. Reporting on the display sizes, Gurman suggested that the reason was either camera hardware or larger batteries, although his source(s) didn't appear to have any further details. However, we have heard separate rumours about the periscope lens coming to the iPhone 16, so it's credible enough.

As for the larger sensor, there have been other rumours about that too – most recently from the leaker shrimpapplepro, who has a fairly good track record of Apple leaks. The sensor in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max isn't expected to be made bigger for the 2023 iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, but a larger sensor in the iPhone 16 could deliver much better dynamic range and low light capability, further differentiating the most expensive iPhones from the rest of the iPhone 16 range.

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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).