Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2017 iPhone May Feature Edge-to-Edge Display With Embedded Touch ID Sensor, Front-Facing Camera

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,225
39,026



Rumors suggest Apple's 2016 iPhone 7 will look very similar to the iPhone 6s, with major changes to the iPhone's form factor actually coming in 2017, the year that marks the 10th anniversary of the device's initial launch. Apple blogger John Gruber recently shared some tantalizing details about the 2017 iPhone, which may see some radical design tweaks.

In the latest episode of his podcast The Talk Show, Gruber said he's heard "scuttlebutt" suggesting the 2017 iPhone will include an edge-to-edge display that eliminates the top and bottom bezels on the device, with the front-facing camera, Touch ID, and other sensors hidden under the display.

iphoneconceptimage.jpg
Concept image via ConceptsiPhone​
I think next year's phone, the 2017 model, the one that will come out in September of 2017. What I have heard -- now this is not really from the rumor mill but just scuttlebutt that I've heard -- is that it will be an all-new form factor.

And there have been some rumors, I guess, but what I'm saying is that I've heard this independently and it is completely getting rid of the chin and forehead of the phone. The entire face will be the display. And the Touch ID sensor will be somehow embedded in the display. The front-facing camera will somehow be embedded in the display. The speaker, everything. All the sensors will somehow be behind the display.

What I don't know... I have no idea, but whether that means that they're going to shrink the actual thing in your hand to fit the screen sizes we already have, or whether they're going to grow the screens to fit the devices we're already used to holding... I don't know.
Click to expand...
Previous rumors have indicated Apple is planning to introduce a flexible OLED display in the 2017 iPhone, and an OLED display panel would allow for an edge-to-edge screen design. Apple has already signed a deal with Samsung for a portion of the OLED panels it will need for the devices.

Multiple rumors have suggested one 2017 iPhone could include a 5.8-inch OLED display, which would perhaps mean Apple plans to have the display wrap around the edges of a 5.5-inch device, but it is not clear how such a screen size would work without top and bottom bezels as suggested by Gruber.

Along with an OLED display, the iPhone coming in 2017 is rumored to include a glass shell, like the iPhone 4 and 4s, rather than the aluminum body that's been used for the iPhone 5s, 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and SE. Long-range wireless charging and expanded biometric features like iris or facial recognition are also features that have been rumored, along with a 10-nanometer A11 chip from TSMC and NAND flash memory supplied by Samsung.

Apple has been working on developing touch and display driver integration (TDDI) chips since 2015, which would let the Touch ID fingerprint recognition system be embedded directly into the display, allowing for the elimination of the Home button. Analyst rumors have previously suggested the Home button will be removed in the 2017 iPhone, in line with what Gruber has heard.

With Apple planning major design changes for the 2017 iPhone, there have been rumors indicating the devices will not feature an "S" name, with Apple perhaps skipping the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus to move directly to the iPhone 8 or another name.

Article Link: 2017 iPhone May Feature Edge-to-Edge Display With Embedded Touch ID Sensor, Front-Facing Camera
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/05/11/2017-iphone-edge-to-edge-display/
It took this long to write this article? I was expecting this to be written on Monday. The episode did come out over the weekend...
I'd love to see Gruber just start saying random garbage on The Talk Show just to see if it'll end up in the rumor press.
 
  • Like
Reactions: -BigMac-
Now THAT'd be an amazing design, but it won't happen. Why? Well, other than 3D displays that didn't need polarized glasses, what more could Apple do going forward with the front of the iPhone in future models? Make it brighter? Better resolution/color? I think the more likely path would be something similar to an S7 Edge. Maybe they'll remove the side bezels, but going to a display that covers the entire screen? HMMM....
 
  • Like
Reactions: AleXXXa
I hear that the September 2020 iPhone will have Touch ID activation by your nose bah blah blah! Who cares about such minor rumors about product almost 2 years away? It's like listening to Elon Musk promising to ramp up production of his Teslas beyond reality in a year or so. It's all BS but said to take place of any real progress. Smoke and mirrors!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Col4bin and whsbuss
MacRumors said:



Rumors suggest Apple's 2016 iPhone 7 will look very similar to the iPhone 6s, with major changes to the iPhone's form factor actually coming in 2017, the year that marks the 10th anniversary of the device's initial launch. Apple blogger John Gruber recently shared some tantalizing details about the 2017 iPhone, which may see some radical design tweaks.

In the latest episode of his podcast The Talk Show, Gruber said he's heard "scuttlebutt" suggesting the 2017 iPhone will include an edge-to-edge display that eliminates the top and bottom bezels on the device, with the front-facing camera, Touch ID, and other sensors hidden under the display.

iphoneconceptimage.jpg

Concept image via ConceptsiPhone​
Previous rumors have indicated Apple is planning to introduce a flexible OLED display in the 2017 iPhone, and an OLED display panel would allow for an edge-to-edge screen design. Apple has already signed a deal with Samsung for a portion of the OLED panels it will need for the devices.

Multiple rumors have suggested one 2017 iPhone could include a 5.8-inch OLED display, which would perhaps mean Apple plans to have the display wrap around the edges of a 5.5-inch device, but it is not clear how such a screen size would work without top and bottom bezels as suggested by Gruber.

Along with an OLED display, the iPhone coming in 2017 is rumored to include a glass shell, like the iPhone 4 and 4s, rather than the aluminum body that's been used for the iPhone 5s, 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and SE. Long-range wireless charging and expanded biometric features like iris or facial recognition are also features that have been rumored, along with a 10-nanometer A11 chip from TSMC and NAND flash memory supplied by Samsung.

Apple has been working on developing touch and display driver integration (TTDI) chips since 2015, which would let the Touch ID fingerprint recognition system be embedded directly into the display, allowing for the elimination of the Home button. Analyst rumors have previously suggested the Home button will be removed in the 2017 iPhone, in line with what Gruber has heard.

With Apple planning major design changes for the 2017 iPhone, there have been rumors indicating the devices will not feature an "S" name, with Apple perhaps skipping the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus to move directly to the iPhone 8 or another name.

Article Link: 2017 iPhone May Feature Edge-to-Edge Display With Embedded Touch ID Sensor, Front-Facing Camera
Click to expand...

Under Tim Cook's Apple, they're so over their head and out of ideas, that there's now THREE years between re-design and innovation cycles. My God, fire the guy already.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Demo Kit, Ladyc0524, AleXXXa and 9 others
So here's the thing. There is just so much you can do with a phone at this point. It is thin enough and has all the features you would want (okay someone might care about the dual lense). So tweaking is really all that is left. Getting rid of the bezel or hiding touch ID under the screen is mostly tweaking. And as much as I say that the iPad pro is getting close to making inroads on the laptop, I think it could also make inroads on the phone at some point. Yeah, i know, wtf... but hear me out.

If they ever take facetime outside of the walled garden, then you we have the option of doing everything with a single device. Frankly, even now with Google voice you can do this. The question becomes, how many devices do I need? Afterall, everything run on all devices since they all use iOS, so why do I need an iphone and ipad and a mac. Long term, probably within 5 year, I totally see me with nothing more than an ipad (yeah taking pictures will be a little awkward, but I have my nikon to save the day). At some point everyone will simply buy one device based on size preference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Geron, drumcat, Sandstorm and 1 other person
twocents said:
Assuming if these speculation are true, and that's a big if, Apple has to weigh whether it is worth the further decline in iPhone sales for another year with a 6S SE model just to have a big update to coincide with the 10-year anniversary
Click to expand...

I'd be willing to bet that the 10 year anniversary is not the main reason (or anything close to it) why this phone is not coming until 2017. Apple is a publicly traded company focused on making profit. If they're not releasing this phone in 2016, it's because it's not ready for market in 2016. No rational company would deliberately sit on a product for a year like that, especially with sales declining.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dampfnudel, Demo Kit, drumcat and 11 others
if rumors are true, the iphone 7 will have no new features save for a few "pro" features on the larger model, meanwhile the following iphone will have more improvements and changes than any iphone previously
 
  • Like
Reactions: dampfnudel
Cuban Missles said:
So here's the thing. There is just so much you can do with a phone at this point. It is thin enough and has all the features you would want (okay someone might care about the dual lense). So tweaking is really all that is left. Getting rid of the bezel or hiding touch ID under the screen is mostly tweaking. And as much as I say that the iPad pro is getting close to making inroads on the laptop, I think it could also make inroads on the phone at some point. Yeah, i know, wtf... but hear me out.

If they ever take facetime outside of the walled garden, then you we have the option of doing everything with a single device. Frankly, even now with Google voice you can do this. The question becomes, how many devices do I need? Afterall, everything run on all devices since they all use iOS, so why do I need an iphone and ipad and a mac. Long term, probably within 5 year, I totally see me with nothing more than an ipad (yeah taking pictures will be a little awkward, but I have my nikon to save the day). At some point everyone will simply buy one device based on size preference.
Click to expand...

What about projectors and projection systems? Wouldn't that be a game changer? What about making the device a solid piece of glass, essentially making the entire phone completely clear when its not powered on? What about making the device as thin as a piece of paper, as well as making it flexible?

Those would all be game changers and substantial leaps in technology. Are we saying that those things are impossible? That they will never be done? Of course they will be eventually. Just a matter of when it happens.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Demo Kit, 5105973, Ivanovitchk and 1 other person
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back