That Little Hole By Your iPhone's Camera Lens Has A Hidden Purpose

Modern iPhones are so advanced, and Apple keeps making them better and better with each new release, even if it's by a small margin. Whether it's improving the cameras, adding a faster processor, updating the design to make the devices look even better, or increasing capacity to improve your iPhone's battery life, each release brings something to the table. Thanks to the improvements in its camera systems, the iPhone has some of the best cameras you can get in a smartphone. 

Besides helping you take photos and videos, your iPhone can effectively serve as a replacement for many old gadgets. To pack as many features as possible in such a compact form factor, Apple has come up with creative ways to make some of the key hardware elements not stick out and ruin the aesthetics of your iPhone. 

Some of these clever concealment methods can be seen when you take a close look at your iPhone's exterior. There are several tiny holes at the bottom of the device next to the charging port, and there's also a single hole beside the camera lenses at the back of the phone (not to be confused with the black dot next to your iPhone's camera). Have you ever wondered what the purpose of the tiny hole next to the camera is? In short, it's a microphone, but there's more to the story.

The hole next to the rear camera isn't the only microphone on your iPhone. The others can't be seen as easily, but if you have any Apple smartphone starting with the iPhone XS, there are four microphones in total. The first is the one we've already pointed out at the back of the phone, while the second is placed in the black bezel above the front camera notch (or Dynamic Island). The last two microphones can be found at the bottom next to your iPhone's speaker grilles. 

This leads us to the next question: Why does Apple include four different microphones? At its iPhone XR launch event in September 2018, Apple revealed that these four microphones enable the iPhone to record stereo sound, even while shooting videos. And if you have an iPhone 16 series model or later, these microphones enable Spatial Audio capture for an immersive audio experience in videos. 

As for that little hole next to your rear camera, the microphone housed here has even more uses. Since it's rear-facing, it's uniquely positioned for a pair of tasks. In addition to helping the iPhone record stereo sound in videos, it also captures the main audio when you are filming with the rear cameras, so voices and other sounds in front of the phone come through clearly. It can also help with noise reduction in calls and recordings by giving your iPhone another audio feed it can use to separate your voice from background sounds. So, it is one tiny hole with a big list of practical uses.