The white bezel iPhone 8 will probably happen, here's why

[deuxani]

Honest question for you and I hope you will answer honestly: Watch that video again. When the app is opened to the white background filling the ears, are you not drawn to the notch at the top? Does it not distract from the experience of viewing the app?

I totally understand what you mean. At this moment I think everyone feels it's going to distract and look ugly if it's not going to be blacked out and/or a white bezel will be present. There is only one thing that gives me hope it won't be a problem: the Essential Phone reviews. When I saw the first pictures I thought they were crazy (especially because they still have a bottom bezel, so they could've just put the camera there). But in all reviews the users state that they didn't even notice the top camera cut-out after a couple of hours of use. After a couple of days it became almost invisible to them and they actually liked it because it gave the phone character. Also, I expect your eyes will be drawn to the content, not the status bar as the status bar information is irrelevant to the task you are performing.

What I'm expecting/hoping is that the same will happen with the new iPhone. The notch will be there and Apple will embrace it. We will think Apple is crazy, we will buy it and after a couple of hours/days we won't even notice it anymore. Time will tell. And I have to say, I actually start to like the white bezel.

 

[9594864]

I totally understand what you mean. At this moment I think everyone feels it's going to distract and look ugly if it's not going to be blacked out and/or a white bezel will be present. There is only one thing that gives me hope it won't be a problem: the Essential Phone reviews. When I saw the first pictures I thought they were crazy (especially because they still have a bottom bezel, so they could've just put the camera there). But in all reviews the users state that they didn't even notice the top camera cut-out after a couple of hours of use. After a couple of days it became almost invisible to them and they actually liked it because it gave the phone character. Also, I expect your eyes will be drawn to the content, not the status bar as the status bar information is irrelevant to the task you are performing.

What I'm expecting/hoping is that the same will happen with the new iPhone. The notch will be there and Apple will embrace it. We will think Apple is crazy, we will buy it and after a couple of hours/days we won't even notice it anymore. Time will tell. And I have to say, I actually start to like the white bezel.

Your eyes aren't drawn to the status content, they're drawn to the massive contrast in screen due to the cutout in the top, especially in the dark where you only see the screen. A screen needs uniformity specifically so the eyes aren't drawn to a specific spot. If you watch that video where it's in the dark it's easy to see why that is problematic and cannot be how Apple a great design company does it. There is no intelligent reason to color in the background of the status ears. None.

 

[KRG]

Have we considered the possibility that the notch will be embraced on the home screen for a dramatic effect, but when in an app the 'ears' will be blended with the notch, rather than the app UI wrapping around it? At night, we'd see a normal rectangular app window with just the status icons in white floating above it.

Or maybe the the notch will be embraced by all apps, but the ambient light sensor will switch the UI to a night mode that blacks out the ears.

There are many solutions...I'm sure Apple engineers have figured something out.

 

[Vanilla35]

Have we considered the possibility that the notch will be embraced on the home screen for a dramatic effect, but when in an app the 'ears' will be blended with the notch, rather than the app UI wrapping around it? At night, we'd see a normal rectangular app window with just the status icons in white floating above it.

Or maybe the the notch will be embraced by all apps, but the ambient light sensor will switch the UI to a night mode that blacks out the ears.

There are many solutions...I'm sure Apple engineers have figured something out.

I think that's too smart for apple. Apple likes to keep it simple.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

The problem I have with a white 8 is that the sides of the phone looked so damned thick. The black tends to hide this.

 

[deuxani]

The problem I have with a white 8 is that the sides of the phone looked so damned thick. The black tends to hide this.

I actually think that the black bezels look optically thicker than the white.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

I actually think that the black bezels look optically thicker than the white.

You might have a point there.

I like how the screen on the Galaxy S8 disappears into the sides of the phone.

 

[Technarchy]

White notch is going to happen. That's why I'm ordering a black phone.

White notch is going to happen. That's why I'm ordering a white phone.

 

[the future]

You might have a point there.

I like how the screen on the Galaxy S8 disappears into the sides of the phone.

Embrace the glare