Apple recently changed the arrangement of the rear cameras, moving from a vertical orientation on the iPhone 12/12 mini to a diagonal arrangement on the iPhone 13/13 mini.
The reason for this change It’s not to aesthetically differentiate the iPhone 12 from the iPhone 13, as some think, but the origin of this movement is in the new camera system.
The new iPhone 13 cameras use significantly larger sensors and debut, for the first time, sensor displacement stabilization – something that was unique to the iPhone 12 Pro Max last year.
iPhone 12 (black) and iPhone 13 (pink)
These new features require more space for separation between the cameras and this can only be achieved in two ways: increasing the square module of the cameras or moving the cameras apart.
As increasing the size of the camera module means taking up space for other components, like the battery, Apple chose to separate the cameras from the iPhone 13/13 mini and therefore positioned them diagonally.
In this way, each camera can house larger sensors without touching and, in the case of the wide-angle lens, include a sensor shift mechanism. This was shown by Apple at the presentation of the new smartphones in September.
What about the iPhone 13 Pro? This model has three cameras in a triangular arrangement, so it was not possible to enlarge the cameras any further than they are.
Therefore, Apple chose to increase the size of the camera module considerably compared to the iPhone 12 Pro.
If Apple wanted to differentiate the iPhone 13 Pro from the iPhone 12 Pro, it could rotate the cameras so that the triangle was facing up instead of to the right, but that wasn’t the point.
iPhone 13 Pro