Summary
- The 20th anniversary iPhone, scheduled for 2027, may have a front camera under the screen and a bezel-less design.
- Apple may skip the iPhone 19, following suit with the iPhone X in 2017.
- Suppliers like LG Innotek are working on lens systems to improve light collection in under-screen cameras.
The 20th anniversary iPhone, to be launched in 2027, could feature an important design change: the front camera would be hidden under the screen, a feature present in some Android smartphones, but until now unprecedented in the Apple brand.
The information comes from the Digital Chat Station account, which frequently publishes behind-the-scenes rumors about Apple on Weibo (a social network analogous to X/Twitter in China).
The 20-year-old iPhone should feature other important design changes. Previous news points to a frameless design — the screen would have curved edges, covering all four sides of the device. Apple should also repeat what it did in 2017, when it skipped the iPhone 9 and went straight to the iPhone X. This time, the trend is that there won’t be an iPhone 19.
Under-screen camera faces quality issues
There have been rumors of an iPhone with a selfie camera under the screen for some time now. In April 2024, the South Korean website The Elec reported that LG Innotek, one of Apple’s suppliers, is working on a piece of this type.
The component would have a “freeform” system of multiple lenses, with the aim of capturing more light, a problem faced in cameras hidden behind the display.
In fact, it’s worth mentioning that front cameras under the screen have existed on Android smartphones for a long time — and some companies have even abandoned this idea.
One example is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold line. After years of hiding the lens and sensor under the internal display, the South Korean brand returned to the traditional “little eye” format in the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Although it was a step back in terms of design, the image quality took an impressive leap, changing a 4 megapixel sensor to a 10 megapixel sensor.
Other brands that left these attempts aside were Xiaomi and Motorola — the last to have the feature were the Xiaomi Mix 4 and the Motorola Edge X30, both from 2021. According to a search in the database of GSMArenaonly ZTE continues to bet on the format.
In the case of Apple, the challenge is even more complex, since the iPhones’ biometrics are entirely based on Face ID. The technology is based on three infrared modules, which work together to create a 3D model of the user’s face — we’ll see if it can all be placed under the screen.
With information from MacRumors
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/iphone-comemorativo-podera-ter-camera-frontal-escondida-sob-a-tela/
