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Unpopular opinion: I care about bezel size reduction. Makes the phone look sleeker.

Everyone here saying they don’t care should compare the iPhone X’s bezels to the 15 Pro’s.

Ultimately the industry is inevitably heading toward the smallest possible device with the biggest possible screen - ie the thinnest possible bezels

Software can be used to mitigate the problem of inadvertent touches when holding the device with thin bezels.
 


Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 Pro models will have the thinnest bezels of any smartphone, beating the screen border thinness of even its latest iPhone 15 Pro devices. That's according to the leaker known as "Ice Universe," who has divulged accurate information about Apple's plans in the past.

iPhone-16-Pro-Front-Feature.jpg

According to multiple sources, despite minimal design changes, both iPhone 16 Pro models will increase in size this year. The iPhone 16 Pro is said to be 6.3 inches (up from 6.1), while the iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to measure in at 6.9 inches (up from 6.7), potentially making it Apple's biggest iPhone ever.

But it seems that Apple isn't just relying on larger physical dimensions to make the viewing experience more immersive. According to Ice Universe, this year's Pro models will also have reduced bezels that could be the thinnest yet seen on any smartphone, including those on the Samsung Galaxy S24.

The breakthrough for achieving this could be Apple's rumored use of Border Reduction Structure (BRS) technology, which allows for a more compact and efficient layout of the circuitry under the display, resulting in even slimmer bezels. Ice Universe did not mention BRS, but two rumors out of Asia have referenced the technology in relation to iPhone 16 models.
Last year, Apple reduced the bezels on iPhone 15 Pro models using low-injection pressure over-molding, or LIPO, to shrink the display border size to 1.5 millimeters (versus around 2.2 millimeters on iPhone 14 models). Besides that, Apple has not significantly tweaked iPhone screen sizes since the introduction of the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ 12 models in 2020. But as mentioned, things are set to get bigger with the Pro models in the 2024 iPhone 16 lineup.

Article Link: iPhone 16 Pro Could Break Record for Thinnest Bezels on a Smartphone
I can see history repeating it’s self smaller this thinnest that
 
Yet 90% of users put a case on it. The more I am thinking about it, the more I feel it's a design flaw. Yes, they are beautiful, but almost all of them are hidden behind an ugly case. It's like design somehow won over usability completely, and it is a bit strange since the desing is almost always hidden. So what's the benefit of the beauty?

What would be amazing would be a good looking iPhone that didn't need a case.
 
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"BRS technology" - way to make "we shifted a few bits around" sound groundbreaking.

Apple is very good at marketing, that's for sure...
 
Only Apple can do this because they control the full hardware and software stack.
Pretty much every major smartphone manufacturer has models with thinner bezels than iPhone. So no, on the contrary only Apple hasn’t done this yet. And by the time it does I will be surprised if others won’t have already slimmed bezels further than Apple or at least by the same extent.
 
I only care about bezel size at this point if it allows them to make smaller iPhones with the same size screens. But at least for the 16 Pro they are actually making them bigger too. Beating a dead horse, but would love to see a 5.8” screen (what the X,Xs and 11 Pro was) with the small bezels in a smaller/modern form factor.
 
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Who gives? nobody uses iphones without cases. One drop and the glass is broken.
Useless.

Not useless, as extra bezels are wasted space for what you carry (efficiency is the biggest possible screen for the smallest possible device weight + footprint).

That said, I've always wondered why Apple spends an insane amount of deigns and manufacturing resources to get the phone "exactly right" when most people stick them in cases anyways?

I sometimes wonder what it would look like if Apple designed an iPhone that didn't need a case, a phone that was designed in such a way / using such materials that it wouldn't easily scratch or break on impact?

Alas, I don't think we'll ever see that, as Apple doesn't want to give up the money they make from selling cases
 
What exactly is the point of the 'bevel wars' with regards smart-phones? You simply end up not being able to operate the phone easily because your fingers holding it interfere with operational touches. And then as you move your fingers further and further away from the top surface, your grip on the phone becomes less secure.
 
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Since I bought iPhone 15 Pro Max this year, the accidental touches have skyrocketed...
I 've never had problem before but now all sorts of crazy stuff happen when picking up or leaving the iPhone :(
 
Please Apple stop! Nobody on earth is able to handle this much innovation...

Oh wait... add 200 USD on top of your iPhone 16 Pro Max price to have your bezels reduced by 0,0003937008 inches? Might even call it iPhone 16 Ultra and charge even more?

Well played Apple, well played
 
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Unpopular opinion: I care about bezel size reduction. Makes the phone look sleeker.

Everyone here saying they don’t care should compare the iPhone X’s bezels to the 15 Pro’s.
This. As a Mini user, I want my next phone to be as small as possible, because whatever I do, it’s going to be bigger. So smaller bezel is good news - larger screen size so the total is till bigger than before is bad news.

My dream phone is only slightly larger than my 13 Mini, but tiny bezels so the screen is bigger. I’m going to hold on to my Mini until it is unbearably slow, then upgrade to whichever is the smallest, latest phone at that point. Hoping Apple doesn’t make that a 2000USD Ultra… 🤞
 
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I literally could not care any less about this, in fact I despise it a bit as it’s so easy to accidentally touch the screen when picking a phone up and pressing the pause button etc. because of the screen being so high you have to be careful how you pick the iPhone up these days.
Soon bezels will be making a comeback as an innovation.
 
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What exactly is the point of the 'bevel wars' with regards smart-phones? You simply end up not being able to operate the phone easily because your fingers holding it interfere with operational touches. And then as you move your fingers further and further away from the top surface, your grip on the phone becomes less secure.
Because physics. Scratch resistant means hard, which means brittle and less grippy. If a soft, grippy material that does not scratch or fade over time exists, I’ve never heard about it.

I use a slim silicone case for grippiness, and replace it when it gets too ugly, which is about once a year, maybe more. I would not want my phone to be actually made from that material, because I wouldn’t be able to replace it easily.
 
Instead of focusing on smaller bezels and thinner phones, I'd like to see a bigger battery and a smaller dynamic island - preferably a hole punch...
 
Why do people always say this? It has palm rejection technology. It isn’t possible to do this.
From personal experience I can say it's definitely possible to do this.
Or have the reverse and it refuses to answer a call as you're touching the sides of the screen so palm rejection incorrectly kicks in
 
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