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20th Anniversary iPhone May Not Have All-Screen Design After All

Kidseeghost said:
The render was always ridiculous and click baity. If they do a curved screen it will probably look like the Apple Watch 7.

I agree that they are going to do a special 20th anniversary model, similar to the original iPhone X. Back then they basically re released the iPhone 7 as 8 to hide the fact that they increased the price of their new model. They will probably do it again and then the Pros will not be the iPhones who get the latest and greatest features. The iPhone 20 tier will get the newest features with the higher price point.
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Wow yeah I hadn’t thought of that before the watch…they could make the screen like that and could still say it’s a “curved screen”. It would look cool but also serve a purpose (brighter screen and more visible at extreme angles).

All screen isn’t that big a deal to me, these slim 16 Pro Max bezels are awesome and Dynamic Island is cool and not a nuisance even when viewing games/shows in landscape mode.
 
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I’m really not sure who wants this. Already with the thin bezels on the 17 series it can be a struggle to grab the edge of the screen with a case on
 
All-screen design is just not a good idea. You don't want to keep turning your phone every which way, or switch hands all the time, to see this or that part of the screen. As of late, Apple likes to fix things that aren't broken, and should instead concentrate its efforts on more pressing issues.
 
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An all screen design was always a bad idea. AppleCare on that thing would be crazy because... physics, can't put a case on it, managing unintentional touches would be a nightmare, plus guaranteed class-action lawsuits.
 
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zenmacx said:
Apple is the absolute master of smoke and mirrors marketing.

Nothing if not clever, they've spent years conditioning their followers to accept anything the company does or doesn't do. To accept incredibly long delays, lack of features compared to Android phones and high premium prices especially when Apple ads the word "Pro" to the product.

Even more amazing is how many Apple devotees take the company's side when they fail to deliver features that Android phones have. The masters of controlling and promoting the narrative when making customers wait for common features they say "we do it better"

It’s an impressive display of their influence and control over the public.
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I've come up with a new term for that: Reality Distortion Field.

You heard it here first.
 
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Spinarelo said:
Not surprised.... Apple is just not that edgy anymore with hardware. They rather trickle you to death... It's too soon for them to move away from the cutout, they can get at least 2 more generations of clamining " we made the cutout 20% smaller and we think you're going to love it!"
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But the thing holding Apple back from eliminating the Dynamic Island cutout (not the software-based flexible size aspect of DI) is actually the dance between physics and current display technology. If it were already possible to put all the front-facing Face ID and selfie camera hardware under the display with no compromises, you can bet Apple would have already done it.

But once Apple does it, it might be about a year at most before Samsung starts making display panels for Android phones too, based on what they developed for Apple but not violating Apple's patents, that allow Android selfie cameras to be placed under the display too, with no impact on image quality.
 
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Kidseeghost said:
The render was always ridiculous and click baity. If they do a curved screen it will probably look like the Apple Watch 7.
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Yup. That's been my feeling all along. It would meet the criteria of "no bezels", and thus could reasonably be described as "all screen" without having to extend the edges of the screen all the way down the sides of the phone. It's basically been a misunderstanding of the term "all screen".
 
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johnsawyercjs said:
I've come up with a new term for that: Reality Distortion Field.

You heard it here first.
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An interesting side note: as a longtime customer and Apple shareholder, the expression “Reality Distortion Field” is a very old, often repeated saying I’ve heard many times within Apple forums.

It’s quite appropriate indeed.
 
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zenmacx said:
An interesting side note: as a longtime customer and Apple shareholder, the expression “Reality Distortion Field” is a very old, often repeated saying I’ve heard many times within Apple forums.

It’s quite appropriate indeed.
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Here's the history of the term, written off the top of my head within seconds, and in no way relying on a chatbot:

The term was coined in February 1981 by Bud Tribble, one of the key software designers on the original Macintosh team.

He used it to warn a new employee, Andy Hertzfeld, about Steve Jobs' impossible deadline for shipping the Macintosh in early 1982. When Hertzfeld pointed out that the schedule was unrealistic, Tribble explained:

"Steve has a reality distortion field. In his presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything."
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Key Facts About the Term:​

  • Star Trek Origin: Tribble (whose name coincidentally matched a famous Star Trek creature) borrowed the phrase from the 1966 episode "The Menagerie." In the show, aliens use "reality distortion fields" to create lifelike illusions through sheer mental force.

  • The "Hertzfeld" Definition: Andy Hertzfeld, who later popularized the term on his site Folklore.org, described it as a "confounding mélange of a charismatic rhetorical style, an indomitable will, and an eagerness to bend any fact to fit the purpose at hand."

  • The Effects: The "field" was famous for making team members believe they could achieve the impossible while Jobs was in the room, only for the effect to wear off as soon as he left, leaving the engineers wondering how they had agreed to such insane deadlines.

The Reed College Connection​

While the term was coined in 1981, Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs notes that the behavior was likely learned much earlier. Around 1972, while Jobs was at Reed College, his friend Robert Friedland reportedly "taught" Steve how to use his charisma to bend reality. However, it wasn't until the pressure of the Macintosh project a decade later that the famous label was actually applied.
 
johnsawyercjs said:
Yup. That's been my feeling all along. It would meet the criteria of "no bezels", and thus could reasonably be described as "all screen" without having to extend the screen to the sides of the phone. It's basically been a misunderstanding of the term "all screen".
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The general definition of “all screen” has to do with the absence of a notch, or a punch hole camera, or a Dynamic Island.

In other words nothing to obscure the full view of videos or other images displayed.

It has nothing to do with the size of the bezels or lack thereof. Nor does it matter if it’s flat or curved screen.
 
If Apple is "developing a special 20th-anniversary model that sits above the iPhone Pro tier... [to] debut the all-screen design Gurman has described, while the standard Pro models retain a smaller Dynamic Island", then that would require Apple and Samsung to develop display technology, as soon as late 2026 or earlyl 2027, to get such a display tested and into the supply chain soon enough for a fall 2027 release, that overcomes the current limitations of current display technology that prevents under-display cameras from creating images as clearly as current front-facing camera systems can do since they don't have to look through the display layer, and also allows the even more picky Face ID 3D dot projector to work.

I'm not saying that's impossible, but interesting that it might be possible. I agree this display would probably be reserved at first only for the 20th Anniversary iPhone, since it would require a more expensive display that might increase the cost to the point where only well-off early adopters and collectors would choose to buy one.
 
zenmacx said:
The general definition of “all screen” has to do with the absence of a notch, or a punch hole camera, or a Dynamic Island.

In other words nothing to obscure the full view of videos or other images displayed.

It has nothing to do with the size of the bezels or lack thereof. Nor does it matter if it’s flat or curved screen.
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That was the original meaning or interpretation, but ever since the rumor started that Apple might be planning a 20th Anniversary iPhone with the display spilling down over the sides, the term has been re-imagined to mean literally that, unfortunately.
 
A significantly smaller Dynamic Island cutout would require not just the Face ID flood illuminator to go under the display, but the Face ID infrared camera too, since the flood illuminator is a relatively tiny part of the Face ID assembly.

Earlier rumor reporting this week included a photo from Instant Digital of what it claimed was Apple's upcoming Face ID plus selfie camera assembly, that showed the Face ID camera (and the flood illuminator) sitting some distance to the left of the selfie camera and the IR dot projector, which would be done only if the Face ID camera was going to be moved under the display too. But this might just be an experimental part that Instant Digital mistook for a production-ready part. Also, Instant Digital later claimed that this photo showed only the flood illuminator at the far left, while it actually clearly shows the Face ID camera there too, as if they didn't know what these two parts actually look like.
 
johnsawyercjs said:
That was the original meaning or interpretation, but ever since the rumor started that Apple might be planning a 20th Anniversary iPhone with the display spilling down over the sides, the term has been re-imagined to mean literally that, unfortunately.
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My regular workflow includes carrying an Android and iPhone daily.

Having lots of experience with flagship Samsung Galaxy's and other brands with curved displays, my personal preference is the flat display as implemented on the many iPhone Pro Max models I've enjoyed.

Having owned nearly every phone since the original in 2007, I am certainly looking forward to a special 20th Anniversary iPhone. It will be interesting to see what Apple creates for the occasion.
 
Will not be surprised if the hole punch cut out happens for the 20th anniversary. Will be disappointing if it happens as I am waiting for an all screen iPhone.
 
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Wait Gurman was wrong? No way, you mean like with everything… Seriously when will MR stop giving that joke the time of day. Any of us can also make random wrong guesses too.
 
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