It’s been a while since I’ve used a phone with a single camera on the back — not since Apple launched its last iPhone SE (2022). Before that, though, it had been much longer, probably since about the iPhone 7. Although Apple stuck with its single-camera setup for a long time, the rest of the smartphone world evolved. Two rear lenses became three, which sometimes even four. But now, the count is back to one. Apple’s iPhone 16e takes me back to the days when phone cameras were simple, and I both love and hate it.
Not all single-camera setups are created equal
