iPhone 2019 Leaks: Rumored Prototype Renderings Capture Its Sleek New Look

A big focus for Apple’s planned iPhone facelift is going to be its rear cameras. Leaked renders published on January 7 revealed a phone with three cameras housed inside of a peculiar square camera bump, a report that was also borne out in a subsequent Wall Street Journal report. With details like that, it was only a matter of time before prototype renders began to surface online.

One of the first interesting new iPhone renders of 2019 shows the camera trio tightly packed and lined up horizontally above the Apple logo. The oval module looks roughly the same size as 2018’s iPhones, but squeezes in an extra sensor. The flash is placed around the center lens to save space with a microphone placed directly under it. But the changes aren’t only limited to its back panel.

Apple’s famous top notch also seems slightly smaller and its bezels slimmer, giving the phone an improved screen-to-body ratio. This potential glimpse of 2019’s iPhone roster comes courtesy of mobile leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer — known by his online monicker OnLeaks — and the Indian tech blog CompareRaja. The partnerships’ new images are undoubtedly cleaner than the existing square alignment as well as comfortably house a rumored new camera feature.

A report late in December claimed Apple was looking to add a Sony 3D sensing camera to its iPhones. This would basically beam laser at objects and time how long it takes the light to bounce back to incorporate distant detection. This could be one of the three sensors seen in the renders. However, the jam-packed nature of the render’s camera was suspicious to some.

iOS developer and 9to5Mac writer Benjamin Mayo, tweeted Tuesday that he wasn’t convinced about the images’ credibility.

“Tuesday and January 7’s renders are said to be official prototype,” he wrote on Twitter, adding “that Apple is deciding between during the early production stages. The blog post states that both designs could make it to market and [be] sold as two different models or the company cold cut one and adopt the other.

Hemmerstoffer is credited with both leaks and claims they are one of the official prototypes that Apple is currently deciding between. The CompareRaja post states that both designs could make it to market and eventually be sold as two different models or the company could simply cut one.

The credibility of Apple rumors varies widely, especially this early in the year. But because 2018’s incremental iPhone updates were largely seen as a filler year as well as the company’s warning shot to start to 2019 fans, analysts, and investors will be looking for big moves by the Cupertino-based company. This leak duo gives a good indicator of where those “big moves” are heading.