Bigger iPhone 16 Pro sizes are rumored to be making room for camera upgrades

There has been talk that the Pro models of the iPhone 16 will be noticeably bigger than their iPhone 15 equivalents, and that rumor just got backed up by another source – together with a reason as to why it’s happening.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is one of the best in the business when it comes to Apple predictions, and in his latest Power On newsletter he says that the extra space afforded by the size increase could be used to pack in a larger battery or a better camera system.

It’s not clear exactly how much information Gurman has on this, but well known tipsters Digital Chat Station, Revegnus and ShrimpApplePro (via MacRumors) have been chipping in to say that camera upgrades are indeed on the way for the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max in 2024.

Camera sensors

If you’ve been following iPhone and camera sensor rumors closely, you’ll know that the top-end iPhone 15 models were said to be getting an upgrade to a 48MP Sony IMX903 sensor for one of their main cameras. More recently however, it seems that this particular upgrade isn’t happening until the iPhone 16 series.

Crucially the IMX903 is a larger sensor, which means more light can be captured, which means photos come out better – not that the current iPhones are bad at photography at all. We’ve also had leaks pointing to a periscope zoom camera arriving with the iPhone 16 Pro handsets, which might also require some additional space.

It’s still early days for iPhone 16 rumors, but it’s already shaping up to be a very interesting phone series, with the Pro models once again offering the biggest upgrades. Before we see those phones, we’ll get the iPhone 15 range this September.

Analysis: bigger is better, apparently

You may well like small phones, but you’re in a minority. The 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini was the last of its compact line, and the general assumption was that it wasn’t selling in sufficient quantities for it to be worth Apple’s while.

That mini phone was replaced by the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus, and it would appear that Apple is once again upping screen sizes next year. Other manufacturers have slowly been making their phones bigger over time too, and it’s a strategy that seems to work.

From what we’ve heard, the iPhone 16 Pro will have a 6.3-inch screen (compared with the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro), and the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a huge 6.9-inch screen (compared with the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max). Meanwhile, the bezels around the sides of the display keep getting smaller too.

It seems strange now, but the original iPhone from 2007 had a screen that measured a mere 3.5 inches, corner to corner. By the end of 2024, we could have a Pro Max model that’s very nearly double that in size.