The camera setup on the newest top-of-the-line iPhone models Apple unveiled Tuesday is bringing an odd phobia into focus.
The three-lens rear cameras featured on the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max have been freaking out people who suffer from trypophobia, The Washington Post reports.
It is a condition that causes "an intense emotional reaction to clustered patterns of holes or bumps," according to Dictionary.com.
It was not long before social media was abuzz with people complaining about the new phone triggering their phobia.
"I've had really bad trypophobia for years now and seeing pics of the new iPhone 11 all over my timeline makes me want to set everything on fire..stop," tweeted @EmHarriss.
"The #iphone11 needs a trypophobia trigger warning," added @MiddleOfMayhem.
Apple has not addressed the situation, but Geoff Cole, a psychology lecturer at the University of Essex, has offered insight into the condition and how the new iPhone design could trigger it.
"The camera has the critical features necessary to cause a response because it's made up of a cluster of holes," he told Metro.co.uk. "Anything can induce trypophobia, as long as it has this pattern. It could be anything from aerated chocolate [like an Aero candy bar], lotus seed pods, or even the brake lights on a Peugeot 206."
Cole said there has been skepticism surrounding the condition, with many people calling it "a successful internet meme, rather than a real phobia." But if that were the case, other phobias would also be deemed a joke, he noted.
"If trypophobia is a good internet meme – then the fear of cockroaches is a good society meme."
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