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iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

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Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.

iPhone-14-Pro-Dynamic-Island.jpg

According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth system's infrared sensors pass through the panel without distortion.

The approach is similar to existing industry techniques that use micro-perforated or nano-patterned glass to selectively improve IR transmission in a localized region above the sensor array.

The report also suggests Apple's work has already prompted related suppliers to accelerate preparation for potential production.

There have been several rumors suggesting the iPhone 18 Pro models will include under-display Face ID, but some disagreement over whether we'll see the technology in 2026. A May report by The Information claimed that iPhone 18 Pro models will have no Dynamic Island with just a pinhole cutout located at the upper left of the display, but other rumors suggest there's still going to be a Dynamic Island.

Analyst Ross Young said that the iPhone 18 Pro models could have under-display Face ID, but that doesn't mean there won't be no Dynamic Island at all. Instead, the pill-shaped hole will be smaller. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has also spoken of a slimmed down Dynamic Island for the iPhone 18 Pro models.

The new claim of a micro-transparent glass window supports the view that there will be a smaller Dynamic Island that shifts TrueDepth sensing components below the screen while retaining a smaller cutout for the front camera. While Smart Pikachu does not specifically mention the Pro models, supply-chain sources often use "series" loosely when discussing early panel and materials testing, and all previous rumors have related to Apple's high-end models.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 18 Pro models in September, alongside an all-new foldable iPhone, as part of a new split cycle launch. The regular iPhone 18 and the more affordable iPhone 18e are not expected to debut until early 2027.

Article Link: iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/08/iphone-18-pro-under-display-face-id/
I7guy said:
That’s the defining feature from the front and will not go away.imo
Click to expand...
It will go away. It will get smaller and then disappear completely when the camera goes under the screen too. The pill only exists as a workaround to make the cut out look more appealing until they can get rid of it completely.
 
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Kidseeghost said:
It will go away. It will get smaller and then disappear completely when the camera goes under the screen too. The pill only exists as a workaround to make the cut out look more appealing until they can get rid of it completely.
Click to expand...
Bookmarked. We’ll revisit this next September to see who is right. If the pill goes away Apple will have to renovate live activities. And by definition live activities take up screen space.
 
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Tig_one said:
It's even more intrusive than the notch.
Click to expand...
Hard disagree. I find the notch far more intrusive and annoying - prefer the Dynamic Island x10000. I wish Macs would get rid of the notch in favour of either a Dynamic Island or a pinhole.

But I get why there’s differing opinions on it. Eventually these workarounds will both be phased out for ultimate edge to edge screen real estate.
 
Not a chance...first Apple will shrink the island even more....than we will have no island...so expect 4-5 yers from now
This is BS, if i make a rum-or will it take it on the front page here?
 
I7guy said:
Bookmarked. We’ll revisit this next September to see who is right. If the pill goes away Apple will have to renovate live activities. And by definition live activities take up screen space.
Click to expand...
The plan is to put everything under the display. Do you really thing the black pill will stay although they made the effort to put everything under the display. And its not the first time they re did the software because the hardware changed.
 
I can totally see the Dynamic Island becoming a purely software feature once they manage to implement FaceId under the display.

No activities? Full screen.
Playing music/navigating etc? The Dynamic Island will appear.
 
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They’re not “actively testing” something that will be released next year. The decision has already been made, but the leakers have to make it seem like it’s plausible that “testing did not go as planned and they’ve decided not to go with it”. Then, they weren’t wrong, they were right, but Apple changed their plans.

iPhones take years to develop. What’s going in next year’s phone was settled a year or more ago. Everything they’ve been doing since then has been iterating on the firmware and hardware to ensure that it can manufactured at scale.
 
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Kidseeghost said:
The plan is to put everything under the display. Do you really thing the black pill will stay although they made the effort to put everything under the display.
Click to expand...
Yes. I believe the Dynamic Island will become more dynamic.
Kidseeghost said:
And it’s not the first time they re did the software because the hardware changed.
Click to expand...
And it’s also not the first time they kept some things as they were.
 
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