We will have to wait until 2026, according to analyst Ross Young, to have an iPhone with the Face ID and the camera front perfectly integrated under the screen. Until then, Apple would be planning a series of intermediate steps the first of which we will see this year, when the iPhone 14 Pro (and not the standard) will still have the two external elements but will do without the notch.
The analyst points out that there are still several technical challenges to be faced and overcome before the cameras in the display fall within the quality standards of the most demanding brands, and Apple is fully among those with the highest expectations. The in-display camera still has ridiculously low adoption rates: Samsung introduced the UDC on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (under display camera) but the attempt (here the review) did not prove too convincing, and the same ZTE which was the first to bet on the fascinating feature (on Axon 20) only a few days ago proposed it on the most valuable product in the range, Axon 40 Ultra.
In short, to quote the analyst: there are several steps forward to be taken to obtain a totally invisible UDC when the screen is on and at the same time with a quality suitable for a top of the range worth over 1,000 euros, and Apple is one of those companies, perhaps even the first on the list, capable of resisting a technology until it is absolutely certain that it can offer results at least comparable to those of the system it leaves behind. This will happen, according to Young, in 2026 and presumably a year later for iPhones standard.
The current four iPhones differ little or nothing in terms of design. This year, however, there will be the first change of approach which will lead to more marked dividing lines between the two iPhones standard and the same number of Pros that Apple, however, intends to bring with it in the years to come. The “pill” in the display for Face ID and front camera will debut this year on the iPhone 14 Pro and the two lines will be aligned in 2023.
In 2024, again according to the analyst’s forecasts, the Pros will have the sensors of the Face ID under the display but there will still be a hole for the front camera, which “conquers” the iPhone 16 standard – assuming they are called that – they will get one year later, and so on until 2027, when the whole range should have a front camera and Face ID under the screen.
Through Twitter, the analyst did not miss a passage to the more immediate future, on iPhone by due out in September. iPhone 14 and 14 Max are not mentioned because, by now we know, they should keep the notch and more generally the aesthetic setting of the 13, while on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max Apple should show an aesthetic optimization work that will lead to a slightly larger display.
Not only the pill for the front camera and Face ID so as to put the notch behind, but also a filed on the black bands around the screen which, with the same external dimensions, will give the user a largest diagonal: 6.69 inches on the iPhone 14 Pro Max instead of the 6.68 inches on the 13 Pro Max, 6.12 inches on the iPhone 14 Pro instead of 6.06 inches. The analyst, consistent with the timeline on the evolution of the iPhone that he shared, adds that the same evolution of the diagonals will occur in the range standard of 2024on iPhone 15 and 15 Max.
