An image of a so-called new ‘iPhone with no camera’ is going pretty viral on Reddit – but there’s an interesting reason as why they don’t have cameras.
Normally, iPhone cameras don’t go unnoticed as the camera modules appear to be getting larger and larger every year.
The pro models of iPhones have three cameras bulging out of the back, while the normal models usually have two – so they aren’t hard to miss.
However, taking to Reddit, one user has shared an image of a camera-less phone with an Apple logo on the back of it.
And a load of smartphone users have been left baffled by the pic.
It looks bizarre. (Reddit)
“A camera-less iPhone issued to my buddy that works at a nuclear plant,” they wrote anonymously on the platform. “No cameras allowed.”
According to a 2020 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, smart devices may ‘potentially introduce new hazards, vulnerabilities, and failure modes’ if not properly selected, although they could be used ‘in equipment or systems to increase nuclear power plant safety and reliability’.
However, it seems that many of the commenters were not quite buying it, as one person claimed: “Apple themselves don’t make these phones, they’re produced by 3rd-party companies which buy from Apple and remove the cameras and sell them to government agencies.”
While someone else said that ‘our people at our plants all carry their regular cell phones’, however, added that it ‘might be different at government nuclear facilities’.
“Apple doesn’t make custom iPhones. This was done by a third party,” a third echoed.
Another Reddit post claimed to have found one in a shop, but at this moment in time, Apple do not offer iPhones without cameras – though it doesn’t mean that people haven’t enquired about it.
What an iPhone camera actually looks like. (Apple)
Another fan of the camera-less took to an Apple thread to ask if she could get one for her husband.
“Hello, in my husbands job the mobile with camera is forbidden for data protection etc etc, so he has an old phone with no internet no WhatsApp, only phone and sms, so I would like to buy for him an iPhone with no camera, but I don’t want to pay for the nice and well developed cameras and then take them off, any advice?” they wrote.
Shutting down the idea, a response read: “Every iPhone currently has a camera on the front and back.
“There is no way to buy an iPhone that has no camera. You could disable the Camera app from the iPhone in Restrictions where you can disable features like Camera, FaceTime, Safari (Internet) etc… e.g. if you have a child.
“But from a hardware standpoint? No, sorry there is no way to remove the cameras.”
While another thread said that an ‘independent repair shop’ could remove cameras, however, it could ‘void your warranty’.
I mean, if it looks too weird to be true, it probably is.
LADbible Group has contacted Apple for comment.