My vision of the iPhone redesign

[Aleh]

Since rumors are still all over the place and we don't really know how Apple is going to handle the new almost bezel free design (cameras and speaker under the screen? speaker cut on the screen? weird screen shape around them like in the latest rumored renders?) I decided to come up with my own idea of how it could be done, and while I was at it I threw in a couple more changes according to what I would like to see, eventually, for the iPhone.

Some things are based on rumors, such as the stainless steel band between glass like the iPhone 4, the 4mm bezel all around the screen, and the vertical camera. Some others are just things I came up with to clean up the design, like the removal of the mute switch and SIM card slot, the symmetrical front-facing stereo speakers on the bezels, and the placement of the power button, to name a few.
Ideally this would have IP68 rating, wireless charging, and Touch ID integrated in the whole front OLED screen, which at 5.8" would be both larger than the screen of the iPhone 7 Plus and in the physical size of a normal 7.

I don't think this design would be impossible to realize from an engineering standpoint either, but I'm not an expert on that matter. Let's just say it's a concept driven by the frustration caused by recent leaks and call it a day.

I'm posting this out of boredom and you're all free to discuss it or bring up your own ideas or whatever!

 

[ET iPhone Home]

What happened to the edgeless design? Maybe render one without that border around the screen.

 

[CatherineVeraGat]

In the iPhone Edition, I would like to have somethings that are mentioned below such as the stainless steel band between the front and the back of the device, 3mm bezel all around the screen, and a vertical camera setup. Then there are things that I would like to see in the next iPhone, but probably won't happen in the next iPhone but it could happen on future iPhones. Like the removal of the SIM card slot,
(Come on Apple, this was rumored since you put an AppleSIM card into the iPads. It was even rumored back then that this was going to happen. The rumors were starting when the iPhone 5 came out.) Front-facing stereo speakers on the front of the device, an IP68 rating, wireless charging up to 15 or 20 feet, Touch ID integrated into the OLED screen, 64,256GB of storage, fast charging and keeping it the same thinness as the current iPhone (7.1mm-7.3mm), the maximum amount of thickness I can do is 7.69mm thick, making it slightly thinner would be nice but it probably wouldn't happen in the iPhone Edition (6.4mm would be nice but to achieve that thickness, the battery life would have to suck. I don't think that I would want that.)

 

[44267547]

I Think it will look similar to this. However, I think the bezels won't be reduced that much as indicated in your render, actually being the speaker/front facing camera. I also question the placement of the touch ID sensor, which I still believe might be placed on the back for the larger rumored 5.8 iPhone. Perhaps the smaller LED versions will have touch ID on the front.

 

[bbrks]

I want to see sharp edges, like on iPhone 4. Like that design better and holding the device would be also much easier and safer.

 

[Goatllama]

Wouldn't it be kinda necessary to have an easily accessible SIM slot or am I behind on my tech? And I like the side switch, but it's definitely not necessary. Other than that, great looking render.

 

[fastbagger]

They should put the speakers on the sides. 2 on top and 2 on bottom would be awesome

 

[swarlos]

Looks nice but I would hate it if Apple removed the mute switch. That's been an iconic part of the iPhone and it's so convenient and one of the reasons I can't switch back to Android.

 

[Aleh]

They should put the speakers on the sides. 2 on top and 2 on bottom would be awesome

Why on the sides though? It's (usually?) better if sound goes towards the user, and since there needs to be one on the front for calls anyways, it's getting two birds with one stone

 

[michael9891]

Looks nice but I would hate it if Apple removed the mute switch. That's been an iconic part of the iPhone and it's so convenient and one of the reasons I can't switch back to Android.

It wouldn't be too much more of a hassle to mute using the control centre like on the iPad.

 

[swarlos]

It wouldn't be too much more of a hassle to mute using the control centre like on the iPad.

Yeah but you can't do that from your pocket.

 

[michael9891]

Yeah but you can't do that from your pocket.

Fair point. Not something I'd miss as I use a case and it's more fiddly to use the switch than th control centre.

 

[Pakaku]

Those rounded corners look too big. iOS kind of relies on a mostly squared-corner design, in terms of scrolling and UI elements like the dock and top status bar.

 

[Tapiture]

This is really cool how'd you make these?

 

[CatherineVeraGat]

How about 3DTouch Buttons? Apple can still offer a Mute switch that has 3DTouch built-in so that the switch doesn't stick out.

 

[Aleh]

Those rounded corners look too big. iOS kind of relies on a mostly squared-corner design, in terms of scrolling and UI elements like the dock and top status bar.

I'm not sure they would make them too small either because that would mess with the iconic design of the phone, I think we might see some redesign of the OS in that regard, think of Control Center from iOS 9 > iOS 10 that abandoned the fully squared design for something that works better with rounded corners. I see it as forward thinking on their part, like when they added the gesture to go back in iOS 7 for the iPhone 6 the following year. This is just speculation of course

This is really cool how'd you make these?

Just need an image editing software (photoshop or what have you) and some creativity

How about 3DTouch Buttons? Apple can still offer a Mute switch that has 3DTouch built-in so that the switch doesn't stick out.

Yeah I think they could implement the function into the volume buttons, instead of making a separate switch to mute

 

[macduke]

Here's a rough, fast Illustrator mockup I made in 2015 of what I thought the iPhone 7 (now 8/Pro/Edition/etc) would look like. Can't remember if I ever posted this here—probably somewhere? I think it will be similar to this but with a little more side bezel (still a big reduction), a little less top and bottom bezel, a little thicker, and the extra mechanism for doing the Iris scans or whatever. In the mockup I had included a smart connector on the bottom to improve water resistance, but IDK if they need that yet. If it's wireless charging, then they might do something like that on the bottom for diagnostics or for battery cases.

 

[CatherineVeraGat]

Here's a rough, fast Illustrator mockup I made in 2015 of what I thought the iPhone 7 (now 8/Pro/Edition/etc) would look like. Can't remember if I ever posted this here—probably somewhere? I think it will be similar to this but with a little more side bezel (still a big reduction), a little less top and bottom bezel, a little thicker, and the extra mechanism for doing the Iris scans or whatever. In the mockup I had included a smart connector on the bottom to improve water resistance, but IDK if they need that yet. If it's wireless charging, then they might do something like that on the bottom for diagnostics or for battery cases.

@macduke So, you made the iPhone 7 (now 8/Pro/Edition) mock-up
Only using Abobe Illustrator or what other programs did you use to make up this mock-up?

 

[macduke]

@macduke So, you made the iPhone 7 (now 8/Pro/Edition) mock-up
Only using Abobe Illustrator or what other programs did you use to make up this mock-up?

I'm pretty sure it was only Illustrator, and when I recently opened it to post it I saved it out to JPG using Photoshop. Why?

 

[CatherineVeraGat]

I'm pretty sure it was only Illustrator, and when I recently opened it to post it I saved it out to JPG using Photoshop. Why?

Because I been wanting to create renders/images of devices in 2D or 3D. But I don't really know what is the best place to start.

 

[macduke]

Because I been wanting to create renders/images of devices in 2D or 3D. But I don't really know what is the best place to start.

Probably sketchup or some other 3D app if you're starting from scratch and want to do pretty renders. I used illustrator because I'm more familiar with it. I learned Lighwave in college (a 3D program) but don't have a current license and probably forgot some things. 3D apps like that can have a steep learning curve.

 

[scrumpyjack]

What happened to the edgeless design? Maybe render one without that border around the screen.

That's edgeless enough for me. I like all of the speaker's on the front too.

The biggest problem is probably fingerprint sensor placement. Hopefully they can build it into the screen but that seems like a long shot at this point.