For most iPhone owners, smartphone cameras are a big attraction. However, as a recent post on Reddit shows, people who work in sensitive industries may not even have a camera on their iPhone. An entire niche industry focuses on differentiating the camera systems from Apple’s handhelds.
however recent posts who came up with a camera-less iPhone petapixelSince the focus has been removed, related information is still worth considering.
A separate post about the camera-less iPhone shared is still current on Reddit’s r/mildlyinteresting subreddit from last year. In that case, the owner worked at a nuclear power plant that prohibited people from taking photos inside. Rather than deal with people using regular, off-the-shelf phones, which even include cameras these days, the company issued special camera-less iPhone units to its employees.
One highly rated comment joked, “Those are some nice uranium particles you’ve got there, it would be a shame if they were seen.”
Another commenter joked, “Imagine your phone not wobbling on a table.”
Camera-less iPhone models aren’t a new concept, but we’ve never discussed them before. They are also relevant to industries other than just nuclear energy, such as Noncam, a camera-less iPhone supplier. notes,
The company explains, “NonCam.com creates customized original non-camera iPhones for customers who work in sensitive fields like oil and gas, military, laboratories – or even for students in religious schools in some countries who aren’t allowed to carry camera phones on a daily basis.”
The company touches on some important things. Just because someone can’t have a camera on their phone at work or school doesn’t mean they want to be tied to a “dumb phone.” The idea is that people should have access to the normal iPhone user experience, even without photography or video recording features. This is also important in countries with mandatory military service, as many military bases have strict security protocols, and many young people are not interested in giving up their phones during the period of their mandatory service.
Noncam has sold pre-owned iPhone models since 2011, and its current stock offerings include the iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2020), and iPhone SE (2022). Prices range from $1,130 to $1,680, which is a significant premium from the price of these phones when they were brand new released by Apple. Neither of these models are still sold by Apple, but the iPhone SE (2022) started at $429 when it launched In March 2022.
NonCam also sells conversion kits, allowing iPhone owners to create their own camera-less iPhone at home. The kits range from $140 to $250 and cover models ranging from the iPhone 5S to the iPhone SE (2022).
one in cross post On Reddit’s r/MKBHD subreddit, a Redditor commented that they used to work at a store that removed cameras from smartphones for local shipyard and nuclear power plant workers. He filled the resulting gaps with red epoxy.
“Some versions require the camera to be cut out because there are other components on the same flex,” explains Redditor user cubesilo. “We charged $50-$100. I felt bad doing it, but people love to put their new equipment to work.”
“It was most painful to do this on a recently released iPhone. 5 or 6 or 13 when it was first released and was brand new, it was just a jerk to pull out the camera,” he continues.
In response to a comment about front-facing cameras, the commenter said they would have to go, even for phones with FaceID. Instead users will be forced to sign in via a passcode.
While almost no regular user would ever want their iPhone to have no camera, it is certainly interesting to see what a modified iPhone looks like when stripped of its photographic capabilities. The latest iPhone 17 Pro series, with its new “lattice plateau” for the advanced camera system, would definitely look ridiculous without its camera system.
Image Credit: noncam, apple
