A new report claims that two iPhone 14 Pro models coming down the pike in 2022—iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max—will feature a display with a punch-hole design.
HIGHLIGHTS
- iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max should have a punch-hole design
- Their non-Pro counterparts are expected to retain the notch
- Android phones have used punch-hole designs for years now
iPhone 14 Pro models to adopt a punch-hole design
This change is believed to only affect the Pro-branded devices—the 6.1-inch ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro and 6.7-inch ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro Max—with their non-Pro counterparts widely expected to retain the notch, Korean website The Elec is reporting.
Of course, Android phones have been offering punch-hole screens for years now as an alternative to Apple’s Face ID feature. Mind you, this isn’t the first time we heard about an iPhone with a punch-hole design. Revered Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was first to mention the possibility of a hole-punch iPhone back in March 2021.
The problem with TrueDepth and hole-punch design
Apple’s TrueDepth camera system found on iPhones with Face ID houses a bunch of sensors into a relatively small cutout found at the top of the display: dot projector, flood illuminator, infrared camera and infrared receiver. On top of that, the TrueDepth camera integrates a speaker, proximity sensor and FaceTime selfie camera as well.
So how on Earth will the company manage to squeeze all those parts into a tiny circular cutout on the display? It seems impossible unless Apple has found a way to shrink the components significantly. Read: 3 ways to find your carrier on iPhone
According to one rumor, the iPhone 14 Pro models could retain the notch despite using a hole-punch design because Face ID hardware would get relocated under the display. If this is true, then it’s safe to speculate that both iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max might house only their FaceTime camera within a hole-punch cutout.
Apple is widely expected to release four new iPhone models in 2022, including two non-Pro ones featuring screens measuring 6.1 and 6.7 inches diagonally. The company is killing the iPhone mini so don’t expect it to release a 5.4-inch iPhone‌ 14 mini in 2022.