Over the years, we've seen more than our fair share of patents that give us glimpses into Apple's design ambitions. Still, many patents cover ideas that never see the light of day -- they're either too ambitious or sometimes they're merely "defensive" patents intended to help Apple mark its territory.
Nevertheless, it's clear that Apple has been slowly progressing toward a vision of an iPhone where the bezels didn't just fade into the background but disappeared entirely. Apple's erstwhile Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive, long held that this was the ultimate goal of iPhone design, and while Ive has been known for some overly ambitious ideas that were a bit too "design-forward," the notion of an iPhone fronted entirely by glass is something Apple has strived for.
The watershed moment for this was the iPhone X, which finally removed the top and bottom bezels. Then, the iPhone 14 Pro removed the unsightly notch in favor of the Dynamic Island, turning a potential distraction into a user interface element. However, the end game is to eliminate screen cutouts entirely by putting everything under the display.
However, Apple is patient and willing to play the long game, especially where the iPhone is concerned. Perhaps it learned its lessons from putting too much emphasis on design with the ill-fated butterfly keyboard, but either way, the iPhone is the company's bread and butter, so it's taking whatever time is necessary to get the design and technology just right.
Even the under-display Face ID may arrive in stages, with reports that Apple will start by moving the infrared dot projector behind the OLED panel on a future iPhone model before going all-in with the TrueDepth camera itself. Other smartphone makers have tried under-display cameras with limited success, and it's telling that none of Apple's Android flagship rivals have been willing to go there yet.
Apple finds itself in a similar situation when it comes to the iPhone's bezels. They get smaller each year, but they're still visibly there. Getting rid of them entirely requires an entirely different level of engineering than simply shrinking them. Companies like Samsung and Motorola have achieved this in the past with very curvy displays, and most of these only go to the sides. It's far more complicated to curve an OLED panel along two axes since there are corners to deal with.
Besides that, curved displays have become so last-decade. It says something that leading Android flagships like the Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones have followed in Apple's design footsteps, with flat screens and squared-off edges. It would be a step backward for Apple to return to that design.
Hence, Apple is looking to do something different. According to Korea's The Elec, sources in Apple's supply chain have said Apple wants to implement a zero-bezel display that remains as flat as possible and doesn't force it to move away from the angular edges of the current iPhone design. While it doesn't seem possible to accomplish this without at least some curvature, Apple reportedly wants to stay away from its rivals' more flowy designs and avoid the "magnifying glass effect" that often comes with these curvy panels. The result may be more akin to the new OnePlus 13, which also follows the iPhone 16 Pro design but uses a 2.5D quad-curved screen that's almost entirely flat, but not quite.
Sources among Apple's suppliers say that Samsung Display and LG Display have already been tapped to produce zero-bezel displays. However, they're still struggling to develop the necessary thin-film technology to protect the OLED panel from moisture and air and the optical clear adhesives (OCA) needed to bond the curved side of the display without adding distortion in those areas.
Contrary to an earlier patent that revealed a wrap-around iPhone screen, Apple doesn't plan to go so far as to extend the display onto the sides. This won't be like Xiamoi's quad-curved waterfall display, a four-side display on a concept phone that never saw the light of day. Apple's plan is to get right to very edge of the iPhone without going over.
It's an ambitious goal with more technical challenges than we can imagine. While sources had suggested that Apple was gearing up to release this as soon as the iPhone 18 in 2026, it's unlikely we'll see it nearly that soon, as Apple is still in technical discussions with panel manufacturers. That's not surprising, as most rumors about new screen technologies tend to be overly optimistic; many predicted we'd see under-display Face ID with the iPhone 16, but now it's not even clear if the technology will be ready for next year's iPhone 17 lineup.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]