The iPhone 17 will be the most important product Apple ships in 2025, and we already have a few exciting rumors about the series. First, the iPhone 17 Air will be Apple’s thinnest iPhone in years. The base iPhone 17 variants will get a 120Hz display, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will get a smaller Face ID Dynamic Island. That is if all the current rumors come true.
But Apple is also working on iPhone innovations for future generations. A leaker from Asia claims that Apple’s current parts suppliers are already developing components that might serve future iPhone generations. The insider mentioned a foldable display and Face ID components that might help Apple reduce the 3D face recognition system’s footprint.
Weibo user Digital Chat Station, who is known for various accurate leaks in the past, posted an update that mentions multiple components for iPhone models that Apple might be working on.
A machine translation of the post tells us Apple’s supply chain is developing a multi-fold periscope lens, a variable aperture main camera, a foldable screen, and a miniaturized ToF (Time of Flight) technology for Face ID.
While the leaker doesn’t mention the specific iPhone models these innovations might debut on, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen such claims.
The foldable screen might concern the foldable iPhone Apple is expected to launch in 2026. A main camera with a variable aperture is reportedly in the works for next year’s iPhone 18. Recent reports also said that the main camera would get a lens from Samsung instead of Sony.
The smaller ToF component for the Face ID system might be related to previous rumors that Apple wants to shrink the Dynamic Island and transform it into a circular hole in the coming years. The Face ID components would move under the display, while the selfie camera would still peek through the OLED panel.
The transition to a smaller Dynamic Island might start this year with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The premium phone should feature metalens optics for the Face ID system inside the Dynmic Island. The pill-shaped cutout will be smaller than the version Apple has used since the iPhone 14 Pros.
The only purported iPhone component in the leaker’s list that is more puzzling is the multi-fold periscope lens. Apple uses a tetraprism zoom lens in the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the 16 Pro models. Apple will likely want to improve the digital zoom experience in future models by using a more complex prism to bend light.
It’s unclear which iPhone model will introduce the next-gen zoom camera. But if parts suppliers are already sending Apple samples for prototype testing, it should happen in the not-too-distant future.
That’s assuming Apple is happy with the components and goes forward with these features. The iPhone maker tests all sorts of ideas for the headset, but not all of them get promoted to commercial products. As for some of the ones that do leak, they can get postponed.
