Experts have been predicting for several years that Apple will remove the notch from the iPhone screen. This year, everyone agrees that it could finally be the case, and now we know more precisely how it could come to fruition on the iPhone 14 Pro.
A leaked schematic posted on Chinese social media site Weibo (via 9to5Mac) appears to show the two cutouts that will replace the notch. Jon Prosser, a well-known insider, claims the leak is accurate and matches Apple’s plans.
It looks like Apple isn’t ready to put a selfie camera under the iPhone screen, which means cutouts are still needed if the notch is going to go away. Other components, such as the infrared sensor for Face ID, will also be housed here.
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Size Matters
The combination of a circular cutout and a pill-shaped cutout that we can see in this diagram confirms previous rumors from last month. We’ve yet to see other phone makers take this particular design route.
While some Android device manufacturers (such as Huawei) use a pill-shaped cutout, and others (such as Samsung) deploy a hole-shaped cutout, the combination of the two has never been adopted yet. .
The leaked schematic doesn’t tell us much else, other than that these cutouts look a bit larger than we expected. For now, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are expected to adopt this new design, while the more affordable iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max are expected to stick with the notch. traditional.
Analysis: On the way to the end of the notch era
Before Apple decided to add a notch to the iPhone X in 2017, phone makers typically built the selfie camera, speaker, and other components into the top edge of the device.
The current reasoning seems to be the same as it was then: Apple wants to ensure that as much screen real estate as possible is made available to iOS and the apps that run on top of it. This extra space can be used for notifications, for example.
This time around, however, Apple is following the pack rather than leading it: many manufacturers were quick to adopt the notch long before Apple started using it, but most have now moved on to smaller perforations and to pills to house the necessary components.
Ultimately, we can think that the technology of screens and cameras will evolve until the camera and other sensors can be integrated under the screen, without the need to cut them out (see the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, for example). However, it is clear that Apple will wait for this technology to be perfect before introducing it to the iPhone.
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