One of the more intriguing iPhone 13 rumors we’ve heard relays that two of Apple’s next-gen iPhone models will feature a texturized matte back in the shade of black. Aside from a distinctive appearance, the design will also make the device easier to hold and less likely to slip out of one’s hands. If an iPhone with a matte back finish is actually in the cards, there’s a good chance this new color option will only be available on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max models.
“The matte back is getting refined,” EverythingApplePro reported a few weeks back. “So in the 2021 iPhones, I’m sure Max is referring to the Pro models, they’ll have a slightly more grippy texturized back. He says they’ll be slightly more comfortable and he assumes it’ll be like a soft matte, like on the Pixel series.”
Imagining what this type of iPhone would look like, designer Ian Zelbo posted a few iPhone 13 Pro renders to Twitter earlier this week.
A zoomed-out view of the device can be seen below. Now is this a game-changing new design? Of course not. Still, the overall look and feel of the iPhone haven’t changed all that much in recent years, so it’s easy to get excited about even a relatively small design change.
A bottom-up view of the device shows how sleek a matte back design would look:
And lastly, a little bit more of a close-up look:
All in all, we certainly wouldn’t complain if Apple offered up a texturized matte black iPhone design. Especially after years of enduring the same rounded edge design, it’s nice to see Apple spice things up, even ever so slightly. Indeed, this is why there was a lot of excitement over the iPhone 12 design which employed squared edges à la the iPhone 4 design as opposed to the rounded edges Apple first introduced on the iPhone 6.
Incidentally, we’ve also seen rumblings that the iPhone 13 lineup will be available in new colors, though we haven’t seen any specific colors mentioned just yet. It may be a longshot, but it would be great to see Apple re-introduce the Midnight Green color that debuted with the iPhone 11 Pro. Apple with the iPhone 12 replaced Midnight Green with Pacific Blue, but I’ve always felt the Midnight Green never got its due.
As for other iPhone 13 features we can expect to see, there’s a good chance Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro models will finally incorporate a 120Hz display for more fluid scrolling. Notably, Apple’s implementation will dynamically switch between 60Hz and 120Hz refresh rates so as to preserve battery life.
Other rumored iPhone 13 features include an always-on display, a smaller notch, upgraded camera tech, and of course, a next-gen A15 processor that, if history is any indication, will put the A14 to shame.
