The next-generation iPhones, likely to be called the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, are expected to launch in less than six months, and rumors about design changes are already swirling. The base-model iPhone 16 is expected to have redesigned cameras and the well-received action button from the iPhone 15 Pro. Now a new report suggests some iPhone 16 models will use a new screen technology that allows for thinner bezel borders, which might give users of the Pro model phones a slightly larger screen area.
The report, which comes from Korean publication The Elec and was translated by MacRumors, says display manufacturers have developed a new type of border reduction structure technology. This new manufacturing technique reportedly allows companies to create screens with more compact control circuitry, effectively allowing for a slimmer bezel. The bezel is the border that separates the phone’s screen from the actual edge of the device.
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It’s unclear whether the new display technology would be added to the entry-level iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus or the more expensive iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, as MacRumors notes. Typically, however, Apple tends to introduce display improvements in its pro line of products, such as with the pro-motion display in 2021’s iPhone 13 Pro, before sometimes offering them in lower-cost models later on. Earlier leaks have also suggested the Pro model screens will grow somewhat, perhaps because of the now-rumored smaller bezels.
Apple representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The new screen details help to round out the hardware features the iPhone 16 lineup will likely offer when it launches this fall. Though Apple doesn’t publicly acknowledge new iPhones until they’re released around September, the rumor mill tends to uncover their headline features beforehand. Last year, Apple’s headline features for the $999 iPhone 15 Pro were a new titanium frame, the action button and USB-C charging, each of which were rumored ahead of time.
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Apple’s steady drumbeat of annual upgrades have become a hallmark of the iPhone, which is still the company’s best-selling product line. CNET’s Patrick Holland wrote that the iPhones “are defined by their refinements” in part because the improvements to cameras, screens and battery life add up for people who buy a new device every few years.
Aside from hardware improvements, Apple is also expected to announce upgrades to its iOS software powering the iPhones during its Worldwide Developers Conference starting June 10. Though Apple’s been tight-lipped about its iOS plans, rumors suggest the company will announce new AI features in response to the current craze powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
