iPhone 12 dummy units promises unexpected camera bonus

The iPhone 12 dummy unexpectedly shows three cameras

(Image credit: Sonny Dickson)

published 23 June 2020

A few months ahead of a new iPhone launch, you can always bank on a whole load of leaks as CAD schematics aimed at case and accessory makers get shared beyond their target audience. And sure enough, we’ve just been treated to a look at how three of the iPhone 12 models will look.

The leak comes from Sonny Dickson, whose photo shows 5.4in, 6.1in and 6.7 devices, which are presumably the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max respectively.

Here are the first iPhone 12 dummies: 3 sizes (5.4, 6.1, 6.7). Flat edges, 3 cameras on the bump like recent molds. Notch, cameras should not be taken 100%, but chassis promising. pic.twitter.com/fcw3bLhVEFJune 21, 2020

In some ways, this is exactly the kind of thing we’ve been expecting. The new iPhone 12 owes a lot to the design of the iPad Pro with flattened edges all the rage, as Apple learns to live without the experienced design hand of Jony Ive. But there are a couple of big surprises hidden in dummy models’ camera arrays.

Firstly, we had previously understood that the non-Pro version of the iPhone 12 would only sport a dual-camera setup, but here we can clearly see three lenses. Kitting out the iPhone 12 with the same number of lenses as the Pro versions might give casual fan one less reason to pay more and upgrade, so it feels unlikely Apple would follow this approach.

More weirdly, we’d heard that a LiDAR scanner was incoming for the Pro models, and yet here it’s conspicuous by its absence.

Of course, Dickson does offer a get out for these discrepancies right there in the tweet, stating that notch and camera layouts might not be final. “Notch, cameras should not be taken 100%, but chassis promising,” he wrote.

That might sound like an excuse for somebody tweeting guesswork and hoping something sticks, but not in this case. Sonny Dickson has been predicting Apple movements with unnerving accuracy for years – indeed, his first mention on this site dates all the way back to July 2014, when he was accurately predicting what the iPhone 6 would look like via leaked dummies. So disbelieve these latest leaks at your peril.

We have longer than usual to wait, mind. The ongoing difficulties with supply chains thanks to the fallout of coronavirus means we’re not expecting the iPhone 12 to launch until November– a whole two months later than the past seven generations of iPhones have appeared.