It looks like the next iPhones will look different when they’re released in September. From different displays on some models to a new strategy for the new generation of processors, more advanced camera lenses and a new thermal design to prevent overheating, a lot will change. And now a leak reveals that the bezels will get even thinner and become the narrowest in the world.
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max: Will the display for the iPhone 16 Pro become thinner? … [+]
Updated June 4. This post was first published on June 3, 2024.
And the leaker has now published images that claim to show how much thinner the bezels will look. In a new post on But the dynamic island must be reduced in size.”
And the images show what an iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro should look like side by side. Even if you can’t imagine that a small reduction in bezel size can make a big difference, it’s striking how much narrower the 16 Pro mock-up looks.
Of course, it’s still the case that if you put the iPhone in a case, as many people do, the subtle change in the bezel can still be covered if there’s a tab on the front. But maybe that’s not the point: making an iPhone look even better than last year’s model is a lofty ambition worth undertaking.
You can bet that if the images really mean that the next iPhone will have the thinnest bezels of any smartphone ever, it will play a role in Apple’s marketing of the device. Ice Universe also published four different images in another post on X, showing different edges. It’s hard to argue that the thinner ones don’t look better.
As for shrinking the bezels of an iPhone, is that even possible, you might ask? Current models already have very thin empty areas around the display itself.
But in a post on The message reads: “My friend has confirmed that iPhone 16 Pro will shrink the bezel and surpass the Galaxy S24 and become the world’s narrowest bezel mobile phone, which seems to be very close to the dream shape.”
As reported by Ice Universe, Samsung currently holds the record for the thinnest bezels, but it looks like that won’t last for long.
The message only mentions the iPhone 16 Pro, but it seems very likely that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will also have a thinner edge. We will see.
This all lines up with an earlier report where Apple used Border Reduction Structure technology to achieve the thinner border, something that was recently rumored as it was said that Apple found this technology to be problematic in terms of yield. That’s because, as 9to5Mac reports, BRS affects construction: “Cabling and circuitry at the edge of the panel must be bent down to achieve this. This reportedly caused some production challenges during the production ramp.”
It’s hard to see how the bezels could get much thinner and let’s not forget that you still want to be able to hold the phone without accidentally activating the touchscreen. But Apple will happily claim the “world’s narrowest crown” from Samsung.
Still, every little bit helps. If the new Pro models are predicted to have larger screens than before (6.3 inches and 6.7 inches for the Pro and Pro Max respectively), thinner bezels could make them easier to hold in the hand.
Not everyone is concerned about these things and one person immediately told Ice Universe: “I will never understand this need. Never.” To which the leaker replied, “You don’t care about the bezel, but if I give you a design of the Galaxy A54, you will definitely hate it for the first time.”
So here we are.