A new leak is throwing some cold water about how the Apple's 20th-anniversary iPhone won't be as revolutionary as previous rumors have suggested.
Rumors have suggested that Apple will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original iPhone's release with another iPhone X moment. As most of you reading this are aware, the iPhone X ushered in a new iPhone design that Apple has mostly stuck to for the better part of a decade.
To do that, previous rumors suggested that Apple will release an iPhone with zero bezels, creating a new, futuristic design. But a new leak claims Apple will create that effect by using curved glass, avoiding the pitfalls that can come from using a curved OLED panel.
Leaker @phonefuturist shared the plans on the X social network. They claim Apple will use a "flat OLED under quad-curved glass to fake zero bezels, avoid cutouts, manage edge touches, and improve UDC." They added that the design will "pay respect to the iPhone X."
The leaker also shared a conversation with an unnamed engineers who explained why Apple has decided to go the curved glass route. Ultimately, using a curved OLED display is simply too problematic.
"A true quad-curved display introduces too many trade-offs non-uniform pixel density at the edges, touch inconsistency, higher dead zones, and long-term reliability issues," the engineers explained. "Apple isn't willing to accept those compromises".
It's also thought that the curved display would open the iPhone to a problem that plagued phones that use curved displays — accidental touches. Samsung, among others, has similar issues where a user's palm can cause a touch to be registered accidentally.
The same engineer believes that by curving the glass rather than the display, Apple will achieve "the illusion of an invisible bezel". The glass will flow over the side of the iPhone while the display and other components remain unaffected.
Tempered expectations
As always, especially 18 months or so from release, it's important to remember that this is all unconfirmed. However, former display analyst Ross Young did add that this news would be good for iPhone glass-maker Corning, possibly suggesting he believes the leak to be accurate.
While the leaker @phonefuturist doesn't have a full history of sharing Apple's plans, they aren't entirely new to the scene. They have a record of accurately leaking information about future Samsung products
Given Apple's use of Samsung displays, it's easy to see the link here.
The news that Apple would seek to gain the effect of a curved display without any of its downsides also makes sense. If that means curving the glass to create the illusion of a curved display, so be it.
The rumored 20th-anniversary iPhone isn't expected to be released until 2027, so there is plenty of time for Apple's plans to change. The company is also likely focused on the upcoming iPhone Fold, so it remains to be seen how far its design teams will go for this as-yet unconfirmed device.
