Jonathan Ive is no longer Apple’s product designer (although he lends a hand externally), but product design is undoubtedly following in his footsteps. And maybe there’s already a date to bet on to achieve what he was aiming for back in 2016: an iPhone where the front is occupied by a screen and nothing else.
The entire front is occupied by one screen
Take the last thing I said literally: a screen and nothing more. Every button, sensor or camera would be hidden under its pixels thanks to the latest technology. Seen from the front, this iPhone would be a screen with edges and nothing more. No notch, no holes, no nothing.
The analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts something like that for the iPhone we’ll see in 2024so we would talk about the “iPhone 16 Pro”:
I think the true full-screen iPhone will come out in 2024. High-end iPhones in 2024 would introduce an under-display front camera alongside under-display Face ID. Low light conditions are detrimental to the quality of the front camera, and ISP and algorithm are crucial for quality improvements. https://t.co/vWjeZYZUPK
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) April 20, 2022
No details are given about design or other characteristics and that must be taken into account In three generations, the iPhone can evolve a lot internally. We might even have a foldable iPhone on our hands by then.
But if that prediction comes true, Jonathan Ive will be able to fulfill his dream of holding “a screen and nothing else” in his hands. Too bad Steve Jobs isn’t here to witness this success. On a technical level it might just be another step forward, but symbolically it’s a milestone Cupertino have been aiming for for years.