20th Anniversary iPhone's Display May Have No Visible Frame or Bezels

[WarmWinterHat]

So you just assume that 11 year old tech industry data applies to the present day‽‽‽

I see no reason to assume that 11 year old data would be consistent with present facts.

Fine, here you go. Gruber's Twitter/X/Mastadon poll says 70%, which is quite the techy crowd:

The Case of the iPhone Case Poll

A poll about iPhone case usage, and my own iPhone 14 case recommendations.

daringfireball.net

If you want to post something that shows that case usage is going down, feel free, but so far I'm the only one that has linked to any actual data. Anyway, I don't care enough to continue this convo...I'm going to continue using a case as long as Apple continues to use glass.

 

[the 12th Doctor]

Until Samsung does it…I doubt it.

 

[ti.to]

I'll buy it. IF: Tim Cook personally shows dropping the iPhone multiple times from head height in various orientations onto a raw concrete floor, kicking it around and the phone not even having a tiny scratch afterwards.

Otherwise I'm going to need a case. I'm old and have dropped far too many phones far too often to suddenly stop doing so.

 

[drrich2]

Is it that hard to look after your phone?

For some of us, yes.

Samsung develops new technology and makes folding and flip phones. Apple fans say there is no need for such phones and it is "Samsung throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks". later Apple is going to make a folding phone....... Got it...

A folding phone is something else I've little interest in. Especially once I put a case on it, the double thickness effect will make keeping it in a shirt pocket more difficult. From what I've seen online, it looks like the basic idea is a hybrid between an iPhone and an iPad Mini and pretty costly. No doubt some people would buy them, but no appeal for me.

I haven't dropped a cell phone in years (knocks on wood). It's really not that difficult for me to remember to take care of a $2000 device.

I've dropped mine twice this morning; both times it dropped out of my shirt breast pocket when I bent over to check or grab something on the floor, etc...

It'd be interesting to see what each of us looks like, what environment we operate in and how close we keep the phone. Someone living alone in an efficiency apartment with a white collar office job where bending over is a rarity would be very different from someone roaming a house, often bending down to pick things up, keeping the phone on their person at all times, and occasionally letting their little kid play with it.

I'm 'hefty' and tried at OtterBox belt clip case; worn on the side, chair arms can snap it off. Worn up front, when I sit my gut can snap it off. I don't wear a 'man purse.' I don't want to have to be obsessively mindful of the thing and want it on me. That means a shirt breast pocket, but an iPhone 12 Pro Max is tall and sticks out a bit. Depending on how the shirt I'm wearing fits, etc..., it can slide out when I bend over and pick up dirty clothes on the floor, etc...

I can see where some people may find case-less phones a workable alternative, but for some of us, it would be insane.

 

[It’s always something]

So you just assume that 11 year old tech industry data applies to the present day‽‽‽

I see no reason to assume that 11 year old data would be consistent with present facts.

We’re not talking about chipsets; we’re talking about customer preferences. What (if anything) might cause phone users to dramatically change their behavior with respect to case usage? I think that usage is going to be generally consistent across the years; you seem to think otherwise. I’m wondering why. 🤷‍♂️

 

[nathansz]

If you want to post something that shows that case usage is going down, feel free, but so far I'm the only one that has linked to any actual data.

The two data points you posted do show case usage going down actually.

I was just wondering where you got 90% from. Then you came up with 86 eleven years ago, now you’ve got that down to 70.

 

[nathansz]

We’re not talking about chipsets; we’re talking about customer preferences. What (if anything) might cause phone users to dramatically change their behavior with respect to case usage? I think that usage is going to be generally consistent across the years; you seem to think otherwise. I’m wondering why. 🤷‍♂️

I wasn’t assuming usage was going up or down, just saying there is no reason to believe 11 year old data is accurate.

Incidentally, the two data points linked so far certainly point to a reduction…

 

[JohnC1959]

This will be interesting to see what they REALLY do. I very much doubt they will finalize on a design that precludes using a case. Not only is it necessary for many to have that added protection but there are non-protection reasons some use cases as well, and Apple knows all of this very well. Time will tell....

 

[carrrrrlos]

It only took 20 years ;P and yes, I’ll hold on to my 14Pro until then.

 

[SMH4KIDIOT]

and then samsung will now have a phone in 1-2 years without visible frames or bezels just so that they can say FIRSTTTTT

April 2027,..Samsung announces the first truly curved phone on the market 🤦‍♂️

Samsung is literally the pioneer and manufacture of the iPhone screens.

Samsung Note Edge 2014, curved on one side.

Samsung Galaxy S6 - S10 curved on both sides with tiny top and bottom bezels.

Xiaomi Mix Alpha with the display curved around the phone.

 

[germanbeer007]

Samsung is literally the pioneer and manufacture of the iPhone screens.

Samsung Note Edge 2014, curved on one side.

Samsung Galaxy S6 - S10 curved on both sides with tiny top and bottom bezels.

View attachment 2510764

Xiaomi Mix Alpha with the display curved around the phone.

i still see bezels on those phones

 

[SMH4KIDIOT]

i still see bezels on those phones

Think beyond what you see, I'm talking about the technological progression of curved screens. From the note edge having a curve on one side to S6 having a curve on both side, S10 shrinking the top and bottom bezels. There are no "bezels" on the sides as the display is curved on the edge. Those phones are older than 6 years.

The Mi Mix Alpha literally has no edge as the display wraps around it.

 

[dimon2242]

Random clicks are there

 

[MrRom92]

As cool as it sounds, I guess a design like that wouldn’t even allow for a proper case, right? You probably couldn’t put one on without covering the display which kind of defeats the point. And with curved glass on all four sides, it feels like one bad drop away from disaster.

Would anyone actually feel comfortable carrying that around without a case?

Yes. I haven’t used a case since the iPhone 3G days and I don’t plan to resume now

Give me the all glass phone

 

[robd003]

I really wish they'd go the other route and make an "Ultra" version of the iPhone that was super tough and durable.

If they had an indestructible iPhone with solar charging on the back that would be really awesome!

 

[iMac The Knife]

For some of us, yes.

A folding phone is something else I've little interest in. Especially once I put a case on it, the double thickness effect will make keeping it in a shirt pocket more difficult. From what I've seen online, it looks like the basic idea is a hybrid between an iPhone and an iPad Mini and pretty costly. No doubt some people would buy them, but no appeal for me.

I've dropped mine twice this morning; both times it dropped out of my shirt breast pocket when I bent over to check or grab something on the floor, etc...

It'd be interesting to see what each of us looks like, what environment we operate in and how close we keep the phone. Someone living alone in an efficiency apartment with a white collar office job where bending over is a rarity would be very different from someone roaming a house, often bending down to pick things up, keeping the phone on their person at all times, and occasionally letting their little kid play with it.

I'm 'hefty' and tried at OtterBox belt clip case; worn on the side, chair arms can snap it off. Worn up front, when I sit my gut can snap it off. I don't wear a 'man purse.' I don't want to have to be obsessively mindful of the thing and want it on me. That means a shirt breast pocket, but an iPhone 12 Pro Max is tall and sticks out a bit. Depending on how the shirt I'm wearing fits, etc..., it can slide out when I bend over and pick up dirty clothes on the floor, etc...

I can see where some people may find case-less phones a workable alternative, but for some of us, it would be insane.

I'm definitely not the person you described in the first scenario, that is for sure! I just don't drop things that are important to me very often. I also keep my phones in impeccable condition, while others look like they straight wipe their asses with their phones.

 

[Bregalad]

The biggest problem is that in order to hold the phone you have to touch part of the screen. If I shift my grip slightly does it register a tap or drag or some sort of multi-touch when all I'm trying to do is hang onto the device?

A case that covers part of the screen obviously solves the endless touching of an active part of the phone problem, but it defeats the purpose of having more screen if part of it must remain covered.

 

[elgipsy]

If they can make Face ID under the screen to make the dynamic island smaller, it's cool. The bezels are fin as they are IMHO, I would rather prefer to have a phone which can lay flat on a desk... and rumors say the the bump might be even bigger this year, this is bad

 

[drrich2]

I just don't drop things that are important to me very often.

So how do you carry it through the day? Is it on you most all the time? Is it in a shirt pocket, belt clip case, 'man bag' or something else? When it's not in your hand and you bend to grab some clothing from the floor, pour pet food in a bowl, grab a pair of shoes or what-have-you, what keeps it from occasionally falling?

I'm trying to get an understanding because in discussions like this it often seems like people live in different worlds, where for example dropping an iPhone is a rarity or a commonality.

 

[arc of the universe]

i really hope apple can accomplish this.
especially if this really is just slab(s) of glass all around, without any physical port (such as for USB-C), no physical buttons, etc.
a front side camera hole is unfortunate, but not a deal breaker. a great under glass camera seems to be difficult in the short term.
but the back side: with (large) camera bumps...hmm...i think Jony Ive had always been envisioning evenly flat slabs of glass all around.

 

[iMac The Knife]

So how do you carry it through the day? Is it on you most all the time? Is it in a shirt pocket, belt clip case, 'man bag' or something else? When it's not in your hand and you bend to grab some clothing from the floor, pour pet food in a bowl, grab a pair of shoes or what-have-you, what keeps it from occasionally falling?

I'm trying to get an understanding because in discussions like this it often seems like people live in different worlds, where for example dropping an iPhone is a rarity or a commonality.

It is on me most of the time, when it's not sitting on my desk while I work of course. Whenever I am mobile, I just put it in my pants/shorts pocket the majority of the time, or I carry it in my hand from point a to point b. What keeps it from falling when it's not in my hand is being in my pocket.

 

[JohnC1959]

It would seem to me that if the screen wraps on to the sides then you wouldn't want any important/interesting display content on the edges. Forget about holding it, just the fact of the curve means it's distorted and a bit out of view. So IF they had it wrap like that they would have to ensure that most apps consider the curved sides to be an unusable border. If they do that then a case would still work. I don't want to be watching a video full screen and have the top and bottom (and sides?) all be distorted and useless.
At any rate, I feel sure that however they design it, a case will be useable. Apple knows there are way too many that will insist on that for their own varied reasons.

 

[Scotty_Trees]

100% this isn't happening. Pin this comment, you'll see. I Am Lord of the Flames!

 

[svish]

Sounds futuristic and nice. Looks like there will be something special for the 20th anniversary. Waiting for it! Looking forward to all the rumors over the next many months!

 

[jamezr]

What? No, that's off topic. Nothing to do with explaining Apple doing the "opposite".



It's funny how it reminds of the story where Toshiba "developed" 1.8" HDD and told Apple that they had no idea what to do with it. Apple bought exclusive rights to use the tech and that gave birth to the iPod, the product that essentially saved Apple and paved the way for the iPhone to which Samsung just copied left and right. "Developing" the technology means nothing if you don't know how it can benefit the user lol.

And another reason why Samsung can do it so "quickly" is that Google develops the operating system, not Samsung. Meanwhile Apple develops is own operating system. So while Samsung just sits back and relax to wait for Google to come up with the next major OS release, Apple designs and develops both the hardware and software and lets others mass produce the hardware. There goes your argument.

So yeah, hope you got it now. Not sure what your argument is as I've simply been answering questions but now you're really trying to argue against me about something that doesn't need to be debated. Anyways I'm moving on.

Its funny how that reminds of the story of how much some Apple fans hate Samsung and continuously denigrate Samsung.
Only to be remined of how much Samsung tech is actually in an iPhone.

That reminds me of another story about Apple fans brag about a new feature on their new iphone and IOS version only to be reminded that Android has had that feature for years....

So lets recap...

You said
"Samsung manufactures its own"
"Apple makes others manufacture its products"
Samsung develops technology...then Apple pays Samsung to include that technology into iPhones...got it...
Samsung is literally the pioneer and manufacturer of the iPhone displays for almost 10 years!

Then you said...
"Samsung throws spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks"
"Apple measures twice and cuts once"
Samsung develops new technology and makes folding and flip phones. Apple fans say there is no need for such phones and it is "Samsung throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks". later Apple is going to make a folding phone.......

Then since you missed the point....
Did Apple "Apple measures twice and cuts once" with AI and Apple Intelligence? Me thinks they need to go back and measure again because it doesn't work....
Yeah...I hope you get it now.....