It's widely accepted that the iPhone 14 will dispense with the notch that appears on the front of the iPhone's display, at least for the Pro models. But what's less known is exactly what the redesigned iPhone 14 screen might look like with under-display Face ID and a punch-hole camera taking the place of the notch.
Developer Jeff Grossman has given us a pretty convincing look at what kind of design Apple might adopt for this fall's iPhone 14 Pro models. He's whipped up a mocked-up screenshot that shows a notch-free iPhone.
Mocked up what a potential iPhone 14 Pro with a pill-shaped cutout might look like. pic.twitter.com/E3C1Bygd45January 9, 2022
Along with the rumors suggesting Apple will turn to under-display Face ID, Apple watchers have suggested that the cut-out for the phone's front camera will be pill-shaped rather than the round cutout featured on leading Android competitors like the Galaxy S21 and OnePlus 10 Pro. Grossman's iPhone 14 mock-up reflects that rumor.
The proposed look for the iPhone 14 is bound to have equal shares of both supporters and detractors. On the one hand, it'll be nice to reclaim more of the screen real estate previously taken up by the iPhone's notch. But the pill shape is more noticeable than rounder camera cutouts, which would seemingly make the hole harder to ignore when gaming, watching videos or performing other tasks that benefit from using the full, uninterrupted screen.
If you want to see what a notch-free iPhone display looks like on your handset,. Grossman's posted an upside-down picture on Twitter. Save the image to your phone, and then flip your device upside down to approximate the iPhone's new look.
Here’s the screenshot I used (hold your phone upside-down to get the effect) pic.twitter.com/pPRjVerK5YJanuary 9, 2022
Apple faces a unique challenge for the front of its phone that other phone makers don't really have to worry about. Instead of just finding a place to house a front camera, Apple has to make sure that all the sensors that enable Face ID can fit and function properly beneath the iPhone's screen. It's possible that the move to a pill-shaped cutout is prompted by the need for some sensors to remain visible.
The iPhone 14 is expected to arrive this fall, and the bigger changes seem like they're slated for the Pro models. Besides the lack of a notch, the Pro models are tipped to get a 48-megapixel main wide camera and potentially a USB-C port. There's also a rumor that the iPhone 14 Pro models will remain the only iPhones with displays that support a variable 120Hz refresh rate.
Grossman's design is far from official, and the iPhone 14 could wind up looking very different from what we see above. But this particular mockup should serve as a reminder that the iPhone's look is likely to get a serious overhaul later this year.
