For most iPhone owners, the smartphone’s cameras are a massive draw. However, as a recent post on Reddit shows, for those who work in sensitive industries, their iPhone may not even have a camera at all. There’s an entire specialized industry focused on stripping the camera systems from Apple’s handhelds.
Although the recent post that brought the camera-less iPhone to PetaPixel‘s attention has since been deleted, the related information is still worth considering.
A different post about a camera-less iPhone shared last year on Reddit’s r/mildlyinteresting subreddit is still up. In that case, the owner worked at a nuclear power plant that prohibited people from taking photos inside. Rather than deal with policing people using regular, off-the-shelf phones, all of which include cameras these days, the company issued its employees special camera-less iPhone units.
Credit: NonCam
A highly-rated comment joked, “Those are some nice uranium particles you’ve got there, it’d be a shame if they were observed.”
Another commenter jokes, “Imagine your phone not wobbling [on] a table.”
Camera-less iPhone models are not a new concept, but we have never discussed them before. They are also relevant to more industries than just nuclear power, as one camera-less iPhone supplier, NonCam, notes.
“NonCam.com makes customized original Non-camera iPhones for customers who work in sensitive areas such as Oil and Gas, Military, Laboratories — or even students from religious schools in certain countries who are not allowed to carry camera phones daily,” the company explains.
The company touches on something important. Just because someone cannot have a camera on their phone at work or school doesn’t mean they want to be saddled with a “dumb phone.” The idea is that people should still have access to the typical iPhone user experience, just without any of the 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 forgoing their phones for the duration of their compulsory service.
NonCam has sold already-stripped iPhone models since 2011, and its current in-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 over the cost of these phones when they were released brand-new by Apple. None 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. Kits are available for $140 to $250 and cover models from the iPhone 5S up through the iPhone SE (2022).
In a cross-post on Reddit’s r/MKBHD subreddit, a Redditor commented that they worked at a store that removed cameras from smartphones for local shipyard and nuclear power plant employees. They filled in the resulting gaps with red epoxy.
An iPhone 8 without its rear camera | Credit: NonCam
“Some versions require cutting the camera off since there are other components on the same flex,” Redditor user cbusillo explains. “We charged $50-$100. I felt bad doing it, but people love being able to take their new devices into work.”
“It was most painful to do on a newly released iPhone. Pulling the cameras out of a 5 or 6 or 13 when it was first released and brand new was just a kick in the pants,” they continue.
In response to a comment about front-facing cameras, the commenter added that those had to go too, even for phones with FaceID. Users would instead be forced to sign in via passcode.
This edited photo of an iPhone 17 Pro is to illustrate how absurd Apple’s latest flagship phone would look without its rear cameras. | Original image credit: Apple
While nearly no regular user would ever want their iPhone to have no cameras, it is certainly interesting to see what a modified iPhone looks like when its photographic capabilities are stripped. The latest iPhone 17 Pro series, with its new “forged plateau” for the upgraded camera system, sure would look ridiculous without its camera system.
Image credits: NonCam, Apple