Now that's a camera bar – Pixel 10 Pro leaks and puts iPhone 17 in its place

There's been a lot of talk about the new camera bump designs coming to the iPhone 17 range later this year. Swathes of leaks and rumours have shown us some interesting designs, with each model seemingly taking on a different form.

Most notable, though, are the iPhone 17 Pro models. Those are showcased with a frankly gargantuan camera bar – roughly an inch tall and spanning the entire width of the rear panel.

But if you thought that looked cumbersome, wait until you see the new leaked images for the new Google Pixel device. The flagship Android phone carries on the theme from the Google Pixel 9 range, with a square-edge panel protruding from the rear of the device.

Why, you may ask, would anyone want that? Well, it's a good question. The main reason we see designs like this coming to the fore is space. In order to maintain ever-better levels of camera performance, brands need space to work with.

The additional images give us some other details about the handset itself. That features a SIM-card slot in the upper left side, and showcases just how chunky that camera cutout is.

We can't be certain from a single image, but it looks even thicker than the previous generation. The pockets of your Levi's will be wincing in horror at the news.

Is this the future for phone design?

I can't help but feel like the current age of phone design is a marked step back from where we were even just a few years ago. Then, every handset was designed to look fantastic – sleek and slim, with a certain sex appeal that any luxury item should have.

I don't personally feel like that's the case anymore, though. In the pursuit of improving specs, we've totally lost the plot in terms of design, and it's really quite concerning. Put simply – I want my good looking phone back, please.