With the Apple iPhone 13, Apple changed the camera layout again, from vertical on the iPhone 12 to diagonal on the 13 models. 

So one of the biggest updates to the iPhone 13 is its camera system, with larger sensors and Sensor-shift stabilization.

A feature that was previously exclusive to the largest iPhone 12 Pro Max, but these additional features take up extra space, and in a phone as small the iPhone 13 Mini, with the camera bump can only be so big, before impacting the size of other crucial components like the battery, so to keep the camera system as small as possible, Apple rearranged the lenses diagonally, since keeping them vertical would have required a larger camera bump.

But

What about the iPhone 13 Pro Models?

They have the same camera layout as the iPhone 12, despite having larger sensors. Why didn’t Apple rearrange the cameras on these models?

Well, their 3 lens layout was already optimal, so all that had to be changed was the size of the camera bump itself,

which is significantly larger than the previous iPhone 12 Pro.

In fact, Apple could have arbitrarily changed the iPhone 13 Pro camera layout just for the sake of differentiation. But the fact that they didn’t helps prove that Apple doesn’t simply make decisions based on marketing, they optimize product design for the user experience and the marketing team utilizes any changes made while promoting the product.

For example, the notch in the iPhone 10 was the focus of this promotional material, despite the large amount of criticism it received, similarly the diagonal camera lens on the iPhone 13 is its most defining characteristic, despite some people expressing their preference for a vertical layout. Because, no matter what your personal feelings may be, the most important thing to Apple’s marketing team is that you can easily recognize who has the newest iPhone and who doesn’t.

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