Citing industry sources, a new report from South Korea’s Electronic Times claims that Apple will abandon the notch of the iPhone X when it releases new phones in 2019. While none of the display’s specifications were confirmed by the publication’s sources, the screen will apparently “completely fill the front of new iPhones.”
In order to kill the notch, Apple would have to find somewhere else to place a wide variety of cameras and sensors, all of which currently reside in that space on the iPhone X. The report also claims that Apple will keep using Face ID in its 2019 models, which means that all the necessary sensors will need to be on the front of the phone.
Considering that we’re a year and a half out from the launch of the 2019 iPhone models, it will likely be quite a while before we learn anything official about Apple’s plans, but there are a few possible solutions. For example, Apple could drill tiny holes into the OLED panel and place all of the important components beneath the display. It could also push all of the sensors to the top of the phone and create a slightly larger bezel without cutting into the display.
As always, it’s worth taking these reports with a grain of salt (especially this many months before launch), but ever since the iPhone X was unveiled, the notch has seemed to be a temporary solution for a problem that can’t be easily solved. Yet. Once Apple has the ability to put everything under the display, it will be able to release a phone with a true full-screen design, which is what many smartphone fans are most anxious to see.
In the meantime, Apple is expected to release three brand new iPhones this fall, including an OLED iPhone with an oversized 6.5-inch display and an LCD iPhone with a 6.1-inch display that will feature a bezel-less design.
