Just over a year ago, there were plenty of reports that Apple would be introducing a “holy-grail” feature on the iPhone 16 Pro: under-screen Face ID technology which would remove the need for a Dynamic Island and take another step towards a completely all-screen iPhone. It looks like that’s not happening.
I’ll say right now, I never quite believed it. First, because the Dynamic Island has proved a big hit, drawing praise for its clever way of growing and shrinking as the purpose requires.
And even if the technology required for Face ID could be hidden away, there would still be the front-facing camera staring out at you, as it does on other phones. Apple likes the distinctive look the Dynamic Island provides.
Anyway, the new report at The Elec makes for interesting reading. At the 2024 Korea Display Conference, it’s reported, a market researcher named Kang Min-soo said that two predicted innovations, a folding iPhone and under-panel Face ID will come later than expected. Much later, in fact.
“We believe that the underpanel technology, which was originally planned to be applied in 2024, will only be applied in 2027,”, he said. Which would mean it would arrive for the iPhone 19 Pro, should Apple continue the same nomenclature by that time.
The report describes the new technology as being more pervasive, though, as one which, “hides the front camera module or face ID under the display.” If it means both, then the all-screen front for the iPhone could be on the horizon, after all.
I don’t know about the timeline, but the feature makes more sense to me. Apple has made a virtue of the need to have multiple cameras and sensors peeping out of the screen thanks to the Dynamic Island. I doubt it would want to swap that for the single-camera look of almost-every-Android-phone in a hurry.
But to remove the visibility of any camera at all, well, that’s a different story.
The researcher claimed that a foldable iPhone could land as soon as 2026, that is, the iPhone 18 series, with a seven- or eight-inch display predicted, which takes it into iPad mini territory. The report also makes clear that Apple could have abandoned under-panel items like this altogether.
Plenty of time for more details to emerge in the two to three years before the schedule the new report predicts.
