We’re pretty much all familiar with the notch at the top of the iPhone screen, which houses the front camera, Face ID sensors, the top speaker, and a microphone. However, not everyone likes this design, and it seems that Apple is already considering some alternatives to it. Now we want to know whether you would prefer an iPhone with a hole-punch camera, the current notch, or another option.
Since the iPhone X was introduced, Apple has made some profound changes to how people interact with the device — which now has things like gesture-based navigation and Face ID. To enable these new capabilities, the iPhone’s design had to be changed.
The bezels have been considerably reduced, and the Home button has been removed so that the iPhone can have an edge-to-edge display. This, however, resulted in Touch ID being replaced by Face ID. Since cameras and sensors cannot simply be placed behind the display, the notch comes as a solution to give the impression that the iPhone is an “all-screen” device.
Some people find the notch annoying; others don’t even seem to care about it. But the truth is, the notch feels more like a temporary solution than something Apple wants on its devices for good. But what exactly could be used to replace the notch?
As shown in this concept, the combination of Touch ID on the Power button plus a hole-punch camera could be one of the solutions. With the 4th-generation iPad Air, Apple has already shown that it can reduce the edges of a device and remove the Home button without including Face ID, thanks to a new version of Touch ID that is built into the device’s Power button.
But the iPhone still has a top speaker, the front camera, and other sensors that need to be relocated. The concept, which is based on an actual rumor, shows the speaker on the top edge of the iPhone, while the camera remains in the center of the screen with a hole-punch design. This still wouldn’t make the iPhone “all screen,” but it would definitely leave room for even more content in that area.
I think most people would love to have an iPhone without any interruptions in the display, but that scenario seems less likely (at least for now). There are phone manufacturers that are investing in cameras underneath the display, but the good results are not there yet. Others have already developed retractable cameras for smartphones, which seems easier to achieve — but at the same time much less practical in real life.
Considering the more realistic scenarios for the next two years, what would you prefer for the iPhone design? A hole-punch camera or a notch? Let us know in the comments section and in the poll below:
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