Ice Universe: Apple working on a zero bezel iPhone with under display Face ID and glass unibody

Chinese-based leaker Ice Universe has taken to Twitter (or is that “X”?) claiming that Apple is working on an iPhone with zero bezels – or at least something pretty close to it. Citing unnamed sources, Ice Universe says that Apple has asked its display partners Samsung and LG to develop the new OLED panels. Apple will also reportedly take Face ID/Dynamic Island all under display at the same time.

One of the notable design changes expected to arrive with the iPhone 15 Pro are thinner bezels, which gives the rumor some credence as Apple is clearly interested in minimizing the iPhone bezels. This is the first time, however, that we have heard of any plans for Apple to go completely bezel-free in a future iPhone. If Apple can manage to pull off a bezel as thin as the render accompanying this story, it should make for a stunning design.

This is, however, not the first time rumors of Apple taking Face ID entirely under display have surfaced. Previous rumors point to this feature arriving with the iPhone 17 Pro due in 2025, which is expected to be the first truly all-screen iPhone. Apple began the process of taking Face ID under display with the launch of the iPhone 14 Pro with part of the system hidden behind the display. This enabled the smaller pill-shaped Dynamic Island cut-out, instead of the larger notches that preceded it.

Ice Universe also goes on to claim that Apple will encase the iPhone in a "new type of ultra-strong" glass unibody. This would mark a switch from Apple's current approach which is to use metals like aluminum and steel body as featured on the iPhone 14 Pro and titanium which is rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple is well-known to have a team of materials scientists constantly experimenting with new materials, some of which we have seen make it into production, like the all-gold original Apple Watch Edition and subsequent ceramic models.

In fact, it is possible that the glass that Ice Universe refers to could be ceramic glass. When the first ceramic Apple Watch Edition was released in 2016, it immediately led to speculation that we could see an iPhone with a ceramic body. Apple certainly wouldn’t be the first to make a smartphone with a ceramic unibody. Chinese maker Xiaomi’s Mi Mix series has featured ceramic unibody designs which certainly deliver an ultra-premium look and feel that would be in line with Apple’s premium approach. It all certainly sounds very tantalizing indeed.

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