Apple's First Bezel-Free iPhone Unlikely to Be Ready for 2026 Launch

[WarmWinterHat]

I'm not sure what the point of this is when 85+% of iPhone users use a case; it'll just get covered up. I don't even like iPhones without a case.

I had to sign a company agreement with my work-issued iPhone that I would always keep it in the provided case (Otterbox).

The most important thing to focus on first is completely removing the Dynamic Island by placing the camera and Face ID under the display.

I personally liked the notch more than the Dynamic Island. Can't say that I care about under screen sensors and camera, but I'm open to it.

 

[ThailandToo]

The most important thing to focus on first is completely removing the Dynamic Island by placing the camera and Face ID under the display.

So true. I believe Apple doesn’t want to do it because people will not instantly know it’s an iPhone. Surely they could have done it years ago as far as notch and island crap. Focus on what matters. A completely distraction free display, great battery life, interoperability with all tech using non-proprietary standards.

 

[Tagbert]

Why is Macrumors so focused on bezel-free phones?

Because so many readers and commentators here seem to be fascinated by the idea of no bezels.

 

[pcd213]

Aesthetically, sure, I’d love this. In practical use, however, how would this work for the 98% of consumers who use a case? Once they eliminate the Dynamic Island, I would argue we’ve really reached peak Porsche 911. From that point on, sure, you can make it thinner and lighter and increase brightness while decreasing power consumption. But we’re really getting to a point of diminishing returns.

 

[subjonas]

Sad. It certainly isn’t. It is all about immersion and it’s one of the last things to make smartphones look astronomically better.

You can’t be immersed by a phone, like you can’t be immersed by a watch. Any practical gain from decreasing the bezel has had diminishing returns. Now it’s merely for (subjective) aesthetics most likely at the expense of usability—ie. form over function.

 

[JohnC1959]

So on phones like Samsung that do wrap around the edges, how does that work with display content? Seems if that wrap around part has useful content then you'd be making gestures just by holding it and a case would obscure some display content.

 

[iGüey]

At this time of the phones evolution, it seems that a bezel-free iPhone is useless and not needed. The bezels-free phones are not a fashion anymore, that fashion (if we can name it that way) already came and went.

All I want for Christmas is a flip iPhone. My argument is we can have a large screen in a smaller footprint phone, much more pocketable than current ones.

 

[814MB]

No. Just…. no.

 

[sunapple]

That is very much out of context. We already have the phone he described and have had it for years. At that time, phones were either half keypad (number buttons) or half keyboards (physical Blackberry), and the screens did not have any touch capability. The huge leap of the iPhone was to remove all that stuff and make the phone have only a screen. And that screen already "magically disappears", as when it turns off it blends in with the rest of the front glass.

I don’t agree. I’m not going to repeat the whole quote, but if you took that as a design brief today you would make an all-screen phone with no bezels. They did what they could with the technology they had.

 

[Saturn1217]

I would much rather they focus on no cutout (or the smallest cutout possible) over this.

The bezels on the iPhone 16 Pro/Max are impressive but also bordering on too thin for usability. A zero bezel phone has more drawbacks than benefits.

 

[CarAnalogy]

The most important thing to focus on first is completely removing the Dynamic Island by placing the camera and Face ID under the display.

This is exactly it. Bezels are not a problem. Things intruding into the display area are a problem.

This was basically the vision for iPhone from the very start:

We tried the infinity pool thing with the Samsung Edge and similar around that time. People hated it. They stopped making them like that. It was another great example of Jony Ive's fantasies not matching reality. We're lucky he didn't get his way of making the iPhone like that. Maybe even he realized it's not practical.

There's no problem with a reasonably sized bezel on something people hold in the hand. While we're at it, the bare phone doesn't have to be the most slippery object humankind has ever created. I mean seriously, a bare iPhone has zero friction. This thing could probably survive atmospheric re-entry.

 

[GraXXoR]

I can barely use my iPhone 15 without a case as it is. The bezels are already so thin that my sausages for fingers already trigger the display often enough to render it useless without a case. And I need a case that has a raised ridge around the screen already in order to keep my ham fists away from the glass.

I can't imagine how annoying it would be to have a phone that has an edge to edge display and then trying to click a "close the advert" X tucked away 0.2mm from the corner of the screen.

 

[RobertALewis]

I am surprised how many people want a bezel free phone. I say the bezels have gotten too small. The one thing that drives my crazy about my iPhone 15 is the fact when I am touching something with my index finger and the phone isn't responding because the hand I am using to hold the phone is touching the edge of the screen somewhere. And for all the "you're holding it wrong" comments that are coming my way, that is bad ergo. It should function in as many various grips as possible, not one prescribed position. I think the iPad is starting to have similar issues. It originally had a bezel large enough for your thumb. Zero bezel will be awful.

 

[anomalogue]

Why climb that mountain? Because it is there.

Why remove those bezels? Because they are there.

It's a pointless engineering feat to do because it is a challenge, and because it generates gadget porn content. The user-benefit-to-effort ratio is not exactly zero, but it is close.

 

[arc of the universe]

i see this development as a part of the design imperative to have a completely enclosed device, no openings at all in a totally enclosed slab of glass and metal. usually we have been talking about no openings (like no USB port, etc),but a phone with no buttons at all would be cool. making the edge of the phone into a total continuum of "buttons". im sure apple could design it to be not intrusive as to how we hold the phone. gripping and squeezing the phone while interacting with the contents (AI) would be smooth, requiring less "pointing" on the device with fingers for simple actions. much like we have with apple watch wrist actions now. for people who use cases, im sure apple would develop a case that interacts with the display to achieve the same thing.

 

[SanderEvers]

In case you haven't noticed, most new iPhone "innovations" lately are just gimmicks.

Sadly that's true. But it's not just the case with iPhones. I haven't seen real smartphone innovation in the last 10 years. Especially when compared with the 10 years before (2004-2014).

Smartphones have gotten boring, but none of them actually have useful good specs.
- A good SoC that is fast and does what you need.
- A large easily removable / replacable battery
- A MicroSD port
- A headphone jack
- Wireless charging
and a - non bloated OS. With at least 5 years of new major versions.

I honestly haven't seen a single phone that does all that.

 

[theorist9]

What's the functional benefit of this? It looks beautiful, but at the same time seems purely aesthetic, since UI's have to be drawn with fixed borders. Otherwise you've got text and images that wrap on either side into illegibility.

There's nothing wrong with something done purely for aesthetics—beautiful design is important—but if the benefit of this is purely aesthetic, that should be made explicit.

 

[Seanm87]

So the edge of the screen remains unresponsive? Then it's just a gimmick, and not needed.

Looks better

 

[SanderEvers]

Looks better

Until you use it. Like I've said before. It's the same BS as foldable phones. It looks amazing and fun, but when you use it the screen breaks.

 

[Sippincider]

Aesthetically, sure, I’d love this. In practical use, however, how would this work

A zero-bezel iPhone would look absolutely stunning on display in the Apple Stores.

Just doesn't seem very practical in use. And wonder how many buyers would be asking "What the # did I just spend $1500 on?" before they even got out of the mall.

 

[AppleofyourI]

I do wonder how a phone case works with 0 bezels. Someone smarter than me knows…

 

[The Game 161]

2026 seems too soon to be fair

 

[redbeard331]

2026 seems too soon to be fair

Probably 2028 or 2029 considering this is Apple.

Looking forward to my iPhone 20 all screen device.

 

[ThomasJL]

Why is Macrumors so focused on bezel-free phones?

The thread in the link below is for people who like bezels:

The bezel-lovers coming out of the closet thread

Bezel-lovers of the world, UNITE! Let's unite under this one thread. It's time for us to come out of the closet and declare our love for bezels. I'll start. I'm ThomasJL, and I'm a bezel-lover. I love how bezels make room for a home button. I love how bezels allow for Touch ID. I love how...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Pupi]

So the edge of the screen remains unresponsive? Then it's just a gimmick, and not needed.

That's absolute nonsense. A bezel-free screen is useful if you have eyes, and the visual real estate of a screen is not a gimmick. It is objectively useful, and therefore, needed.

Besides, that's not really how iOS touch rejection works. The edge won't be unresponsive all the time. Only when it detects unwanted touches.