The iPhone X, one of the most significant redesigns in iPhone history, was first unveiled by Apple five years ago this week. The iPhone X brought the notch to the iPhone along with Face ID and a design language that has endured over the next few years, among other advances.
In memory of the notch turning five years old this week, we thought we’d look back at the history of the iPhone’s display bezels and how they have evolved into the pill-shaped cutout it is becoming today.
the era of thick bezels
Following its introduction in 2007, the iPhone had relatively thick bezels on its top, bottom, and sides for the first ten years. In accordance with the colour of your device, the bezels were either white or black. Given the requirement to house the front-facing camera, earpiece, and the Home Button, which included Touch ID in 2013, the bezels were especially thick at the top and bottom.
Apple didn’t make much changes to the iPhone’s display bezel during those early years, maintaining the substantial “forehead and chin” bezels as screens steadily grew from 3.5 inches in the first few generations to as large as 5.5 inches with the “Plus” versions of the iPhone 6, 6s, and 7. Things didn’t start to drastically change until 2017.
Greetings from the Notch
Tim Cook utilised the famous “One more thing” adage from Apple to announce the iPhone X, the biggest makeover of the device’s history, at the Steve Jobs Theater in 2017. The most noteworthy of the new features included in the iPhone X was Face ID, which was placed in a new notch that protruded into the top edge of the display.
Apple had to reconsider how iOS handled information in light of that big change to the iPhone’s display. Third-party apps have to be updated in order to accommodate the notch and be sized properly for the new display due to the changing design. For four years, the notch was an integral part of the iPhone’s design before it was ever changed.
The Notch Reduction
With the iPhone 13, Apple finally succeeded in narrowing the notch, which had remained largely unchanged throughout the iPhone X, iPhone XS/XR, iPhone 11, and iPhone 12 generations. The iPhone 13’s notch was narrowed but made a tiny bit bigger. Although it was a minor adjustment, it highlighted Apple’s attempts to minimise and, ideally, eliminate the notch. A year later, there would be another important tweak.
Greetings from Dynamic Island.
Apple has upgraded the notch on the most recent iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to a pill-shaped cutout that is isolated from the display bezel, five years after the notch’s introduction. The cutout, which appears to be one big pill-shaped display encroachment, is actually two independent cutouts that Apple’s Dynamic Island feature digitally combined and hid within the iOS user interface.
By shifting alerts, notifications, and other information to the top of the display and around the cutout, which dynamically resizes to response to what is being presented, Dynamic Island introduces a completely new way to engage with the iPhone. Since its release last week, Dynamic Island has drawn plaudits, with some describing it as the “greatest design work from Apple in years.”
Next, what?
With the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max switching to a pill-shaped and hole-punch cutout, the issue of what comes next to the Dynamic Island arises. The ultimate design may not have any notch or cutouts, but it may be a long way off until the technology is developed to sufficiently conceal the many cameras and sensors hidden beneath the display.
Apple’s notch replacement appears to be here to stay for at least a few more years, according to rumours that claim the company plans to introduce Dynamic Island to the regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models next year as the feature trickles down from the highest-end models. What do you want to see as the iPhone’s next significant design improvement? Tell us in the comments section.
