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New renders offer an interesting take on rumors of a curved iPhone [Gallery]

Earlier this week, a report from Bloomberg claimed that Apple is considering future iPhone models with “hover” gestures and curved screens. Now, designer Martin Hajek (via iDrop News) has offered up his take on what such an iPhone could look like…

The Bloomberg report explained that Apple has a pair of projects investigating both ‘air gestures’ and a curved design. The air gestures would seemingly allow users to simply hover over the screen to control it.

Meanwhile, the glass of iPhones is already curved slightly at the edges, but Bloomberg’s report took things to the next level by describing an iPhone where the middle of the display is lower than the top and bottom edges.

Apple is also developing iPhone displays that curve inward gradually from top to bottom, one of the people familiar with the situation said. That’s different than the latest Samsung smartphone screens, which curve down at the edges.

Bloomberg’s report cautioned that both of these efforts are in their early stages and could be scrapped, noting that the tech “won’t be ready for consumers for at least two years, if Apple chooses to go forward with.”

That hasn’t stopped Hajek from imagining what an iPhone with a curved body could look like. These renders are certainly interesting as they seem to imagine an iPhone similar to the Nokia banana phone, the 8110 – famously featured in “The Matrix.”

What use this sort of design provides is unclear, though iDrop News does note that the device is narrower than the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. The so-called “keypad screen” is hidden when the device is fully compressed. Ben Lovejoy speculated how curved screens could eventually lead to a foldable iPhone, which certainly seems more practical than this.

These renders should be treated as more for fun than anything else. It’s next to impossible to know what a curved iPhone designed by Jony Ive would look like – but I’m hard pressed to imagine that it would look like this.

What do you think a curved iPhone would look like? Let us know down in the comments!


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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is the editor-in-chief of 9to5Mac, overseeing the entire site’s operations. He also hosts the 9to5Mac Daily and 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcasts.

You can send tips, questions, and typos to chance@9to5mac.com.

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