An earlier report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman gave us some vague details about an upcoming iPhone model, which is currently tagged as the 20th anniversary iPhone. This device was said to introduce a brand-new design or have a unique design by itself, while the rest of the iPhone 19 series would have a slightly older or recent design. This strategy would be very similar to what Apple did when it announced its iPhone X, which was meant to celebrate 10 years of iPhone. After the initial details, there’s more information from another source which gives us a better idea about the design of the upcoming iPhone.
A detailed report by Korean publication ET News, gives out many details about this upcoming iPhone citing sources from the supply chain. Apple is reportedly working on a display that bends or has curved edges on all four sides. While this sounds like a regular quad-curved display panel, which is now also available in many low-end mid-range Chinese smartphones, this panel and its screen are supposed to have curved sides that are a lot more aggressive. When viewed from the front, the display is supposed to give a bezel-less appearance, meaning the bezels would hide or appear only past the curvature on the sides, which would not be visible unless viewed from the sides.
This indeed, sort of confirms the previous report which stated that the phone will make “extensive use of glass” and appear like a slab of glass with no visible bezels. The source claims that Apple will be meeting Samsung and LG for the development of this panel.
The second detail mentioned in this report is that of an under-display camera (UDC). Samsung and some Chinese smartphone brands have used the same tech in their smartphones. However, such technology means a lot for Apple, that’s stuck with a capsule-shaped cavity in its displays for its Face ID authentication method. Apple even built software features around it by branding it as Dynamic Island. Launched with the iPhone 14 Pro, Dynamic Island exists on every iPhone model on sale save for the recently announced iPhone 16e (Review). The under display camera is supposed to hide the camera under the display letting the various Face ID sensors peek between the pixels when needed.
The third detail mentioned in this report is the use of a solid-state battery. Solid state battery is an upcoming battery technology that is yet to make its way into production smartphones. The tech basically uses a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyte used in commonly available lithium-ion batteries. This is different from the silicon carbon technology that is currently used to deliver higher capacity and makes use of non-graphite anodes for faster and safer charging.
The report claims that using pure silicon will increase energy density allowing for holding higher charge and thereby allow for longer-lasting battery life.
