The next iPhones may have smaller notches and wider 5G antenna bands

The next iPhone models that Apple will probably release in the fall next year should feature smaller notices and have wider antenna bands to support 5G connectivity.

Smartphone leaker and concept artist Benjamin Geskin, who has had its fair share of misses, wrote on Twitter today that Apple is testing a few Face ID prototypes with new optics and smaller notches. “Some are smaller in width, some are narrower to fit the top bezel,” he writes.

They have wider (but still under 1mm thick) antenna bands to support 5G connectivity. The antenna bands will apparently use glass, ceramic or sapphire rather than plastic.

Last but not least, Geskin writes that Apple will eventually get rid of its proprietary Lightning connector on iPhones, but not in favor of the USB-C protocol like on the iPad Pro series. Instead, he writes, the Cupertino technology giant will adopt a wireless solution for charging and data transfer. Such technologies exist already: the current UWB standard (not to be confused with the competing Wireless USB standard) is capable of transmitting data at up to 480 Mbps over distances of up to three meters, or 110Mbps at up to ten meters.

Apple is reportedly working on a number of design changes for the next year’s iPhone lineup, and we already heard from reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that its 2020 smartphone models will shrink the notch. Kuo said in July that a pair of iPhones releasing in 2020 may feature slimmer notches while a third and presumably flagship model won’t have a notch at all.

As a matter of fact, Geskin said 2020 would mark the arrival of a notch-less iPhone featuring a 6.7-inch display. “One of the 2020 iPhone prototypes has 6.7-inch display with Face ID and TrueDepth camera system housed in the top bezel,” he wrote in July.

Housing the camera component along with the sensors in the top bezel is a strategy tried and tested by several high-end Android handsets, but I truly hope that Apple’s solution will not yield a noticeably thicker top bezel like on those phones.

Thoughts?