Rumor has it that Apple will ditch the notch in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max in favor of a pill-shaped cutout and a spot for the selfie camera, and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released a patent application that appears to show how. the company that could do, according to Patently Apple (through 9to5Mac).
The patent application covers several possible variants of a device that combines a camera, an infrared light emitter and a “light folding element” that can redirect the IR light. The application describes how a slightly folded projector can be used to reduce the footprint of these components, leaving more display area on the phone.
The notch currently houses a lot of tech, including a selfie camera, infrared camera, depth sensor and dot projector, and Apple already shrunk the notch by 20 percent last year with its iPhone 13 lineup. But with this patent, Apple says it can arrange some of that technology in a way that it can reduce the size of the notch.
Here’s an excerpt of the description surrounding the patent claims if you’re curious (and we’ve included the application at the end of this article if you want to browse through it):
For example, because the light folding element can change the transmission direction of the IR light, the IR light emitter need not necessarily be limited to a specific installation location. Instead, the IR light emitter can be placed in a location with less limited space and use the lightweight folding element to project the IR light in a specific direction. This can reduce the overall size of the imaging and sensing components, thereby reducing the size of a notch for holding the imaging and sensing component and increasing the display area of the device.
That said, the publication of this application by the USPTO is not a guarantee that the technology will appear in an Apple device. But there are a few other clues that point to a significantly redesigned notch area for the next Pro iPhones.
Perhaps the best proof is that Apple whisperer Mark Gurman has reported that Apple would switch to the pill-shaped selfie camera with cutout and hole punch. And Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported on a non-notch Pro iPhone 14 a few days before the iPhone 13 hit store shelves. But some Twitter accounts known to have leaked phone information in the past have recently reported some. shared intriguing new images that may show what the new notch area looks like on real phones, as reported by MacRumors.
Twitter user “DuanRui”, who posted images to Twitter of the iPhone 12 Mini name before Apple announced it publicly, tweeted photos from what appears to be the pill notch and selfie cam punch hole on an iPhone 14 Pro. Take these with a grain of salt – DuanRui says in his profile that most of his content has been reposted from Chinese social media, so it’s unclear exactly where they came from – but the images at least give you an idea of what the rumored new ones are. design might look like.
And Ice Universe posted A picture from what she described as an “iPhone 14 Pro dummy”. Note that the pill in this photo appears to have a slightly different design than the images DuanRui shared, as there are two distinct holes in the center of the pill.
Thankfully, we probably won’t have to wait too long to see if Apple actually takes it a step further and, if so, what the results might look like. The company is hosting its next product event on September 7, where it is widely expected to announce the entire iPhone 14 lineup.
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