Your iPhone is hiding an important tool in plain sight right by the camera lens
It's a little hole with a giant purpose
One of the most important tools in every modern iPhone is actually something that goes completely under the radar, and learning about it will transform how you use your device.
When people talk about all of the hidden features within an iPhone they're typically referring to software, as there are countless tools and tips that you can use to avoid the dangers of phone theft, activate secret codes, and even tune down some of the most annoying aspects of the recent iOS update.
It's rare for there to be an unknown quality on the hardware side of things – especially as everything is largely laid out clearly on the smartphone's exterior – but there's actually one tiny hole that has a massive role to play in a number of key activities.
Anyone with an iPhone released after 2018 might have noticed that there's a tiny black hole in the vicinity of the Apple device's rear cameras, but most people have brushed this off without wondering what it actually does.
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You might have thought that it's something to do with the camera system – especially since certain models have introduced LiDAR scans to help with focus – but it actually has a different yet arguably more important purpose.
As shared by BGR, this tiny dot is actually a microphone, and it's one of four points spaced around your iPhone that dramatically improve the sound that's picked up during video.
The other microphones are located next to the front camera and then at the bottom by the charging port, yet this rear device is arguably the most important, especially with how many people use their phones these days.
Not only does it help produce accurate and impressive spatial audio when filming video on your phone, but it also acts as the primary receiving device when filming through the rear camera, which is something that many TikTok users rely on for its superior quality.
Without it, your phone would have to pull audio from either the front or the bottom, both of which are likely blocked or obscured, so it shouldn't be hard to see why this is such an important addition.
Moreover, it even serves a key purpose when you're chatting away on your phone, as while the bottom two microphones are the primary source for picking up your voice, this rear receiver takes in all of that annoying background noise to help filter it away, leading to clearer sounding call quality for the person on the other end.
It goes to show that there's likely a number of aspects of your iPhone that you take for granted on a daily basis, and that while it might be small, its size far from reflects its importance.