iPhone 16 to Adopt Ultra-Thin Bezel Technology to Maximize Display

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to maximize the display size on the upcoming iPhone 16 series by using a new ultra-thin bezel technology, claims a new report out of Korea.

According to Sisa Journal, Apple will use Border Reduction Structure (BRS) technology to minimize the bezel at the bottom of the display. BRS achieves this by rolling up the internal copper wiring into a more compact package.

Apple reportedly plans to apply the borderless display technology to all four iPhone 16 models, which are due to be released in the second half of this year.

The company is said to have attempted to apply the technology to iPhones before, but previous attempts were curtailed due to heat issues. Apple's reinvigorated efforts to adopt BRS are reportedly due to recent improvements in heat dissipation technology.

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. However, that's set to change with the 2024 iPhone 16 lineup. The iPhone 16 Pro models will have notably larger display sizes than the current iPhone 15 Pro models.

According to multiple sources, the ‌‌iPhone 16 Pro‌‌ and ‌‌iPhone 16 Pro‌‌ Max will feature an increase in display size compared to the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ and ‌‌iPhone 15 Pro‌‌ Max. The ‌‌iPhone 16 Pro‌‌ will reportedly have a 6.27-inch display (159.31 mm), while the ‌‌iPhone 16 Pro‌‌ Max will feature a 6.85-inch (174.06 mm) screen, with Apple likely marketing the sizes as 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively.

With the increase in display size, the dimensions of the ‌iPhone‌'s body will also increase. The ‌‌iPhone 16 Pro‌‌ and 16 Pro Max will be slightly taller than their predecessors, while also being somewhat wider. The larger form factor of the devices will give Apple more internal space for components. The ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models could get larger, longer-lasting batteries for example.

• Every iPhone 16 Rumor We've Covered So Far

We are not expecting size changes for the ‌iPhone 16‌ and ‌iPhone 16‌ Plus, and these devices will be the same size as the iPhone 15 and ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus. However, with the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ 17 and ‌‌iPhone‌‌ 17 Plus in 2025, Apple is expected to also bring the larger 6.27- and 6.86-inch display sizes to its two standard ‌‌iPhone‌‌ models.

Article Link: iPhone 16 to Adopt Ultra-Thin Bezel Technology to Maximize Display

 

[HackMacDaddy]

Looking forward to the droptest!

 

[NapZzz]

That’s great innovation!

 

[Malcster]

The bezels on the 15 Pro are tiny already, I'd much rather have the anti-glare display.

 

[Achillias]

They should have prioritized finding a solution to eliminate the notch or dynamic island altogether, without compromising the quality of the front camera instead off this. The bezels are already fine.

 

[Kylo83]

this is one thing I would be excited for, but they said the 15 pro max would

The bezels on the 15 Pro are tiny already, I'd much rather have the anti-glare display.

no they are not

 

[kerr]

They should have prioritized finding a solution to eliminate the notch or dynamic island altogether, without compromising the quality of the front camera instead off this.

That’s coming next year

 

[Achillias]

That’s coming next year

No, it will have the same puncture hole as the Samsung Galaxy series. Which is still a compromise.

 

[GrenadeOconnor]

No, it will have the same puncture hole as the Samsung Galaxy series. Which is still a compromise.

I’d argue that “compromise” is putting a very mediocre under display camera in there. I have a Galaxy Z Fold5 with UDC and while the tech is certainly being worked on, so far it’s pretty awful. I’d rather have a hole in my screen.

 

[ThomasJL]

For people who actually like bezels, the following thread may be of interest:

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

 

[Jason J. Schneider]

I’d argue that “compromise” is putting a very mediocre under display camera in there. I have a Galaxy Z Fold5 with UDC and while the tech is certainly being worked on, so far it’s pretty awful. I’d rather have a hole in my screen.

Yeah, I subscribe to 👏 each 👏 and 👏 every 👏 single 👏 word in there. 🍻

 

[JohnRckr]

Lmao, heard the same rumor for 15 pro lineup. Years behind anyway

 

[Achillias]

I’d argue that “compromise” is putting a very mediocre under display camera in there. I have a Galaxy Z Fold5 with UDC and while the tech is certainly being worked on, so far it’s pretty awful. I’d rather have a hole in my screen.

That's exactly the point I'm making. Instead of focusing on making the bezels slightly smaller, they should allocate resources to eliminating a puncture hole without compromises. The bezels, as they are now, are simply good enough.

 

[GrenadeOconnor]

That's exactly the point I'm making. Instead of focusing on making the bezels slightly smaller, they should allocate resources to eliminating a puncture hole without compromises. The bezels, as they are now, are simply good enough.

Do we know that they haven’t been working on that? I thought the goal has pretty much always been a phone that’s all screen. The fact that it’s not yet spent necessarily mean they aren’t allocating resources to it, but could also mean their effort still hasn’t been successful.

 

[Seanm87]

The smaller bezels on the 15 pro look way better. If they can remove them completely it will look sexy as hell 😍

 

[boak]

They should have prioritized finding a solution to eliminate the notch or dynamic island altogether, without compromising the quality of the front camera instead off this. The bezels are already fine.

That solution does not and will never exist. The screen solution will always compromise the quality of the camera. Apple can only claim “no deterioration” from previous implementation/model by finding improvements “budget” in the camera tech and giving some or all of it to be consumed by the screen’s deterioration.

 

[Achillias]

That solution does not and will never exist. The screen solution will always compromise the quality of the camera. Apple can only claim “no deterioration” from previous implementation/model by finding improvements “budget” in the camera tech and giving some or all of it to be consumed by the screen’s deterioration.

That's a truly outdated mindset. Just because you currently lack the vision to find a way to accomplish it doesn't mean it will never be possible. Less than 30 years ago, people living at that time couldn't imagine we would have wireless phones, that the internet would exist, that chips could become as small as they are now, or that we would be driving electric cars. I don't believe in your assertion.

 

[kiranmk2]

Different size Pros = new cases needed!

I winder what Apple will do given the failure that was finewoven... they can't go back to leather given the big publicity push they made away from it and they can't pretend that finewoven has been well received...

 

[boak]

That's a truly outdated mindset. Just because you currently lack the vision to find a way to accomplish it doesn't mean it will never be possible. Less than 30 years ago, people living at that time couldn't imagine we would have wireless phones, that the internet would exist, that chips could become as small as they are now, or that we would be driving electric cars. I don't believe in your assertion.

Nothing comes for free. Something has to give. Just because you don’t believe does not make it untrue.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Even more all screen that the previous all screen design!

 

[JulianL]

I really hope that on the Max models they use any extra screen height to rejig the Home Screen very slightly, it really would be only a matter of a few pixels here and there, to repurpose that space at the bottom where the search icon is to instead be an extra row of regular user-definable icons.

It’s crazy (in my opinio) how much space at the bottom of the home page is dedicated to just the search access and the indicator showing which page of a multi-page Home Screen the user is on. With widgets now potentially taking up 8 icon slots for a big widget (probably more - a 4 x 2 icon-slot widget is the biggest I use), having an extra 4 icon slots just above the dock to quickly get to more of one’s frequently used apps without needing to flip to another Home Screen page or go into a folder would be really valuable to me.

For people who really want that single tap search on their Home Screen Apple could simply create a search icon that could be placed on that bottom row and surely there must be a more compact way of fitting in an indicator somewhere to show which page of your home screen you are on?

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

They should have prioritized finding a solution to eliminate the notch or dynamic island altogether, without compromising the quality of the front camera instead off this. The bezels are already fine.

Agree.

I do understand that the bezels on iPhones 11 and 12 needed a bit of shrinking. Aesthetically acceptable. But too bulky when holding them.

Overall footprints of iPhones 13 and beyond are much better than the earlier notch iPhones despite the display still being 6.1".

But Apple cutting 0.7 millimetres from the 15 Pros is not a priority for the average buyer. At least not by comparison to shrinking down the size of the Dynamic Island, which to me has a much larger negative impact on iPhone aesthetics and the over all user experience of iOS than a slightly larger display.

Even bumping the displays up to 6.27- and 6.86-inches, respectively, is not something I want unless it can be done without making iPhones wider or taller (obviously impossible as there's only about 2.2 millimetres of display border on iPhones 15 right now).

6.7" is already big enough for those that want a true phablet.

What I really need is a smaller or completely under-display Dynamic Island notch (yes, Dynamic Island is still a "notch" in my book. Or "cutout", if you want to be generous).

 

[kerr]

No, it will have the same puncture hole as the Samsung Galaxy series. Which is still a compromise.

What you want is coming to iPhone in 2027. I’m happy to wait.

 

[boxrick]

Phones getting larger still and taller. This is depressing, iphones are big enough as it is. 6.3 for the "small" one is crazy

 

[steve09090]

Whilst I’m a fan of the Dynamic Island…what is stopping under screen camera? Surely if the camera is being used in FaceTime or for every teenagers Insta-Poses, the camera area could be blacked out (not displaying anything)? Wouldn’t that fix the contrast issues that all other under screen cameras have?