What's next for the iPhone design?

[AbSoluTc]

Here's the issue with reducing the bezels, the phone would have to be thicker to accommodate the components behind the bezel space. There is a lot of stuff behind these spots that you just can't move.

I would love to see what people are calling "good bezels" compared to the "huge" bezels the iPhone has. As it stands, I like the form/function of the screen. It gives me just enough to hold on to without activating anything on the screen.

Please post some comparisons.

Touch ID is here for a while so is the home button. I would really be taken back if it was gone for the 7. It's too good, too fast and too simple to get rid of it.

 

[WhoDaKat]

Please God no.

I absolutely hate the 4/4s design, particularly the metal band around the middle of the phone. If we get a 4/4s in the size of the 6/6s/6+/6s+ I'll hold off upgrading again just like I did to get my 5 instead of the 4s!

<Shudder!>

I guess it's different strokes for different folks because I think the 4/4S design is a piece of art. I doubt we see a revision of it in the 7, but it's all cyclical so we will see it again. There's only so much you can do with the footprint of a cell phone. My hope/dream is with the other poster, the size of a 6+ but with the 4/4S design. Front and back glass (might as well be indestructible glass while I'm dreaming) and a liquid metal band. Might as well ditch the home button too. Build it and Touch ID into the screen and lose the bezels.

 

[cmichaelb]

Please God no.

I absolutely hate the 4/4s design, particularly the metal band around the middle of the phone. If we get a 4/4s in the size of the 6/6s/6+/6s+ I'll hold off upgrading again just like I did to get my 5 instead of the 4s!

<Shudder!>

The 5 had the metal band as well, just thinner.

 

[cmichaelb]

To elaborate on this point, I believe that Apple will implement a MicroLED display in the iphone7 or 7S. With the purchase of LuxVue on May 2, 2014, it gives them plenty of time to test the technology. If nobody know what LuxVue produces they are power-efficient, super bright displays (up to 9 times brighter than current AMOLED and LCD displays) that experts are saying is the next big leap in display technology (http://bit.ly/1HZRYgl)

That's my best guess on what significant change will come to the iphone 7. I believe we might transition to smaller bezels at the top and sides of the phone. I would love to see a waterproof design and fast charging but that might be asking for too much.

You said this about the 6s/plus. We may never see it. Who knows?

 

[eyoungren]

The 5 had the metal band as well, just thinner.

But it was black on my Black/Slate iPhone 5. Not silver or chrome.

Had the black iPhone 4/4s had an actual black band and not what it had I might have liked it better.

 

[Zetaprime]

They need to keep making it thinner.

iPhone 7: Ninja Star

Making it thinner would also mean making the cameras thinner. There may be a limit to the optics in terms of making the cameras much thinner than they are. They already stick out a bit. Also there's the issue of making it thinner without becoming prone to bending. For the 1st time the next generation phone actually got thicker this year, though not enough to notice or prevent last years case from fitting.

 

[iNinja08]

+1 on the OLED.
4K is complete overkill in a phone.
2k maybe?

I would have my phone be 11K if they could figure it out without sucking. My philosophy is simple - if it shoots in 4k, I want to play it back in 4k on the device I shot it on. Then, only then, a jedi will you be.

 

[Noble Actual]

Making it thinner would also mean making the cameras thinner. There may be a limit to the optics in terms of making the cameras much thinner than they are. They already stick out a bit. Also there's the issue of making it thinner without becoming prone to bending. For the 1st time the next generation phone actually got thicker this year, though not enough to notice or prevent last years case from fitting.

I don't care. I just want an iNinja Star that also has phone functionality.

 

[bushman4]

Same ipjome made of carbonate or fibrex instead of aluminum

 

[v0lume4]

Making it thinner would also mean making the cameras thinner. There may be a limit to the optics in terms of making the cameras much thinner than they are. They already stick out a bit. Also there's the issue of making it thinner without becoming prone to bending. For the 1st time the next generation phone actually got thicker this year, though not enough to notice or prevent last years case from fitting.

Remember when the white iPhone 4S was released and it didn't fit into some cases, though it supposedly had the same dimensions?

 

[MrX8503]

The home button isn't going away this soon. They just introduced 3D Touch and the avg consumer loves having a physical home button.

My prediction is that the side bezels will be reduced but not so much the top and bottom. As a result the iPhone may go back to having flat sides instead of rounded.

 

[Small White Car]

I would love to see what people are calling "good bezels" compared to the "huge" bezels the iPhone has.

I know I'm in the minority on this, but I think perfection would be to leave the top and bottom alone and shrink the sides by about 1/3.

I think the phone looks nice as it is, I just want a little bit more grip-ablity.

 

[L0V3PiNK]

That sharp aquas phone is a terrible design

 

[tjl3]

I saw something about that too (here on MR actually). I hope that Apple doesn't abandon metals altogether. Perhaps they will finally do something big with that Liquid Metal company that they acquired? One can dream.

Metal isn't supposed to bend...

Jokes aside,

I don't see the home button going anywhere until/unless they reach the point where you can unlock it from nearly any portion of the screen. While the button uses up valuable real estate, it still performs a core function of the device, and right now, having a physical button to center your finger on makes unlocking the phone a breeze. Trying to consistently locate on-screen buttons is nowhere near as reliable.

I don't see this going away any time soon either. The home button is so simple and fundamental, yet so recognizable and functional. To reinvent the home button as some sort of new interface seems overly complex, given how much it does and how much you can do on the display now.