No, That Notchless iPhone Spotted in 'Ted Lasso' Isn't the iPhone 13

[MacRumors]

Recent sightings of a notchless iPhone in highly popular Apple TV+ comedy "Ted Lasso" have led to sensational headlines suggesting this is a canny bit of product placement on Apple's part and that the iPhone 13 will be notchless. In actuality – and this could go without saying – the phone in question is very likely just showing a poorly superimposed display added in post-production.

Notchless iPhone in scene from "Ted Lasso"​

The mythical notchless iPhone appears in two separate scenes in the second season of "Ted Lasso," specifically in episode six, "The Signal." In both scenes, an iPhone can be seen with an on-screen user interface identifiable as iOS, but without a notch at the top of the display.

The idea that Apple would reveal an unannounced flagship product in a pre-recorded show is certainly a tantalizing prospect, but it's a tenuous theory at best. TV shows routinely apply artificial overlays onto digital displays in post-production in order to make their contents clearer for viewers to see – in this case, an iOS Lock Screen.

Notchless iPhone in scene from "Ted Lasso"​

That's not to say Apple isn't penchant to product placement in its shows, but the notch has been a mainstay of the iPhone throughout four generations of the device, and the iPhone 13 will be no different, with the notch continuing to remain on the front of Apple's upcoming smartphones. However, the iPhone 13 is expected to feature a smaller notch, and several reputable sources have indicated that the notch size will shrink in 2021, including Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Looking further ahead into the future, 2022's "‌iPhone‌ 14" is expected to finally ditch the notch, replacing it with an Android-style hole-punch camera. Where Apple goes from there is unclear, but a rumor in 2019 claimed Apple has prototyped at least one iPhone with no notch, with the TrueDepth camera sensors for Face ID instead housed in the thin bezel above the display.

Article Link: No, That Notchless iPhone Spotted in 'Ted Lasso' Isn't the iPhone 13

 

[LFC2020]

iPhone 14 confirmed ??

 

[acorntoy]

“OMFG I SAW APPLE DEMO THEIR NEW PHONE ON THE DUMB **** show!!!”

If you don’t see it for the random nominations see it for this folks.

 

[Wildkraut]

A faked iPhone, because Apple is ashamed for the notch. Watching Ted Lasso in a few years from now would always remind them about the ugly notch they had.

 

[AmazeSE]

The superimposed display added in post-production looks so fake .Why can't they just use a real iPhone? At the very least they could have made the display more realistic.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Why can't they just use a real iPhone?

I'm sure they did. Doesn't mean that it's display would have looked sharp (or maybe it showed something different to what they wanted to look in the end) and thats why they they touched it post production.

At the very least they could have made the display more realistic.

Sure enough.

 

[schneeland]

So customized Android it is

 

[jonnysods]

That's a lot of work for someone to go through in post to remove that notch!

 

[OffgridTeck]

Why does Apple decide to maintain the Face ID on the era of face-masks while it also creates an undesired notch taking valuable screen space? Simple:
FACE ID IS A GREAT EMOTIONAL SURVEILLANCE FEATURE
AI face gesture tracking meta-data has a GREAT commercial value as businesses can buy peoples facial responses to products & services, same way most smartphones hear your voice 24/7 to offer targeted advertising (nothing new).
Because it is a profitable business for Apple, it is here to stay way long and re-adapt into under-screen sensors..

 

[subjonas]

Just wondering, are all phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, wireless headphones, smart watches, smart speakers, and eventually smart glasses and electric cars in all modern-era Apple shows and movies going to be Apple products? Obviously it can’t be. They’ll have to make some generic looking products I’m sure, but it will be a lot of hassle and maybe impossible to not use a competitor’s product in some situations. I wonder exactly how it will play out. I don’t think we’ve ever seen this situation before where a Hollywood production company was in conflict of interest with other companies for so many products.

 

[filmantopia]

That's a lot of work for someone to go through in post to remove that notch!

No, it’s more work to include the notch. Because they’re already superimposing the contents of the display. However adding the notch makes it more difficult because imperfections in the tracking/keyframing would be more obvious with a jittering notch on an iPhone display.

I do this kind of work professionally.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Why does Apple decide to maintain the Face ID on the era of face-masks while it also creates an undesired notch taking valuable screen space? Simple:
FACE ID IS A GREAT EMOTIONAL SURVEILLANCE FEATURE
AI face gesture tracking meta-data has a GREAT commercial value as businesses can buy peoples facial responses to products & services, same way most smartphones hear your voice 24/7 to offer targeted advertising (nothing new).
Because it is a profitable business for Apple, it is here to stay way long and re-adapt into under-screen sensors..

The fact I had to ponder if this was satire or real, says a lot about the comments lately here and on social media.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

They’ll have to make some generic looking products I’m sure, but it will be a lot of hassle and maybe impossible to not use a competitor’s product in some situations.

Why? They could just use different versions of their hardware to not make every product identical. Older iPhones, iPads, Macs, different color cars, etc. It isn't realistic but not much is realistic on TV these days anyway.

 

[alvaroe16]

Why? They could just use different versions of their hardware to not make every product identical. Older iPhones, iPads, Macs, different color cars, etc. It isn't realistic but not much is realistic on TV these days anyway.

This. If you watch season 2 "For all mankind" pretty much all the screens they use for "facetime" is an ipad with a 70s border around it to make it seem like its a computer... This is pretty easy for a show that is based on a time period but with technology that is fake.

 

[chucker23n1]

A faked iPhone, because Apple is ashamed for the notch.

Apple does not produce the show. Ruby's Tuna, Doozer, Universal and Warner do. Odds are some exec at Warner or wherever asked, "hey, can we take the iPhone but do a fun little easter egg where it doesn't look like any actual iPhone"? Maybe that exec hates the notch. Maybe they just thought it would be a cute thing to do.

Why does Apple decide to maintain the Face ID on the era of face-masks while it also creates an undesired notch taking valuable screen space?

Because they think it makes for good UX. They also added a pretty decent workaround for masks in 14.5.

Personally, I think Touch ID was nicer. I liked the way touching the device also establishes consent, to a degree looking at it does not (which means some actions require double-clicking the side button, which I don't find that great). But Apple likes Face ID.

Simple:
FACE ID IS A GREAT EMOTIONAL SURVEILLANCE FEATURE
AI face gesture tracking meta-data has a GREAT commercial value as businesses can buy peoples facial responses to products & services, same way most smartphones hear your voice 24/7 to offer targeted advertising (nothing new).
Because it is a profitable business for Apple, it is here to stay way long and re-adapt into under-screen sensors..

Please show me the section in Apple Inc.'s latest 10-K SEC filing where they disclose this as a significant revenue source.

(You can't, because this is complete nonsense.)

 

[mw360]

Just wondering, are all phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, wireless headphones, smart watches, smart speakers, and eventually smart glasses and electric cars in all modern-era Apple shows and movies going to be Apple products? Obviously it can’t be. They’ll have to make some generic looking products I’m sure, but it will be a lot of hassle and maybe impossible to not use a competitor’s product in some situations. I wonder exactly how it will play out. I don’t think we’ve ever seen this situation before where a Hollywood production company was in conflict of interest with other companies for so many products.

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[atomwork]

“OMFG I SAW APPLE DEMO THEIR NEW PHONE ON THE DUMB **** show!!!”

If you don’t see it for the random nominations see it for this folks.

Who would call the most nicest and kindest show a DUMB **** ?

 

[KOTN91]

Hope they don’t ever do a hole punch design. Very cheap, very tacky, very Android and very sub £100 Chinese phone

They should keep the notch until the technology is there to eliminate it entirely

 

[nfl46]

After the iPhone X was released in 2017 and we still don’t have a full screen notchless iPhone is kind of funny. I’d thought by now, it’d happened.

 

[TheAustrianGuy]

But at least it shows how good a notch- and punchout-less phone would look.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Just give the iPhone an iPad Pro like design up top with the camera systems and call it a day. The whole notch thing was a dumb idea from the start.

 

[RammyXX]

No, it’s more work to include the notch. Because they’re already superimposing the contents of the display. However adding the notch makes it more difficult because imperfections in the tracking/keyframing would be more obvious with a jittering notch on an iPhone display.

I do this kind of work professionally.

Why would you not put the notch onto the superimposing content of the display, instead of tracking/keyframing the notch?...

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

It might be an iPhone far into the future. We shall see…

 

[mrat93]

I didn’t even notice this in the episode, but I had an afterthought… What if Apple had the characters using iPhone 13 in the episodes immediately after its announcement? Probably would never happen but this article got me thinking about it again.

 

[chucker23n1]

But at least it shows how good a notch- and punchout-less phone would look.

No, it shows how a sci-fi idea of that would look. It doesn't actually answer how that would practically work. Where's the camera? Where is the microphone? What about other sensors?

And IMHO, it doesn't really look good. It just looks bland. Like an iMac without a chin.