A new report has indicated that Apple has cancelled a more durable display that it had planned for the iPhone 17 Pro series.
According to MacRumors, a source with reliable information has confirmed that Apple has dropped the super scratch-resistant anti-reflective display. We had first heard about the new display last spring after it was leaked on Weibo by Instant Digital.
Apple originally planned to only include the new display on the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The new glass was supposedly more scratch-resistant than Apple’s current Ceramic Shield material, while also offering better anti-glare performance. However, according to the new report, Apple ran into difficulties when it came to scaling up the display process.
Part of this had to do with how much time it took to actually add the coating to the displays. Apple had expected this to some degree, which is why it decided to limit the new screen to the iPhone 17 Pro series. However, it’s stated that Apple underestimated the time required to complete the process, meaning it wasn’t feasible this year.
Apple possibly dropping the new display is disappointing, especially as two of Apple's other Pro devices, the M4 Macbook Pro and iPad Pro M4, feature their own unique nano-texture displays. Originally introduced with the Pro Display XDR, the glass is etched at the nanometer level, which scatters incoming light while preserving contrast and color accuracy.
Instead, we’d expect the iPhone 17 Pro series to simply feature the same fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating seen on other iPhones. This coating is applied to help keep the screen clean by minimizing the oils from fingerprints, but it means iPhones tend to suffer in brighter environments. This is an issue when you compare the phone’s display to the Gorilla Armor 2 that was introduced with the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
While we might not be getting a new display, there’s still a lot to be excited about regarding the iPhone 17 Pro series. For instance, we’ve recently heard about two possible upgrades for the Pro’s screen, including a new kind of technology called “low-dielectric TEE,” which will reportedly help to boost battery efficiency.
It’s worth taking the leak regarding Apple’s display with a grain of salt, as we can’t validate the source ourselves. We won’t know for certain what the specs of the upcoming phone are, or how it will even look, until we see an official reveal, which is expected to occur in September.
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