iPhone 14 may be first with no notch: rumors

Apple’s premium phones are the last in the smartphone world to feature such a large notch, largely due to the sensors for Face ID incorporated into the area, but it may finally ditch the screen intrusion with the upcoming iPhone 14, according to rumors.

While it had previously been speculated that iPhone may start using the under-display fingerprint readers that have become common in Android phones, the latest rumors indicate it would instead offer a punch-hole camera while moving the rest of the Face ID tech under the display.

Under-screen cameras have already been released to market, with the most noteworthy carrier of this tech being the Samsung Z Fold3. However, these cameras offer much lower sharpness and quality, and the portion of the screen housing the camera is generally a lower pixel density than the rest of the display.

Face ID, which uses dot projection to recognize the owner of the phone, does not need the same level of clarity as a camera can could easily be incorporated into the phone’s design.

Barclays analysts claim that Apple is planning to adopt a laser-based time-of-flight architecture for Face ID that would allow for substantial changes to be introduced to the front-facing TrueDepth camera array, and other rumors point to a unibody lens design for a reduction in the size of the front camera module.

Other rumors indicate that the new iPhone would remove the SIM slot, and that Apple would instead roll out eSIM support for cellular network connectivity, reported MacRumors.

Moreover, it has been speculated that Apple may introduce LTPO displays across the line-up instead of limiting it to the Pro models, use titanium instead of stainless steel on the higher-end iPhones, and remove the lightning port in favor of MagSafe charging.