Rumored smaller notch for iPhone 13 pictured for the first time

Apple’s iPhone line has had a distinctive notch interrupting the flow of its display since it launched the iPhone X with Face ID in 2017. It replaced the iconic circular Home button on previous models that incorporated Touch ID, the fingerprint-based biometric authentication system that recently made a re-appearance on the new iPad Air line. While Face ID looks like it is sticking around for at least the next iPhone (either the iPhone 12s or iPhone 13), a fresh leak suggests Apple could be set to shrink the size of the notch housing its facial recognition system.

Macrumors has come into possession of a photo of purported replacement glass panels for the next-generation iPhone line courtesy of Greek repair provider iRepair. The panels come in the expected 5.4-inch, 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes of the iPhone 12s/13 line (even though current 5.4-inch iPhone sales have been disappointing, Apple is said to have already locked itself in to another 5.4-inch model). More intriguingly, the notch size of the new iPhone panels is noticeably narrower courtesy of the top speaker moving out of the notch and into the top bezel.

Overall, the depth of the notch remains the same, the narrower overall width means less disruption to the viewing area. While Apple still has a long way to go to catch up to the screen-to-body ratio of many Android flagship devices, this is definitely a step in the right direction. It doesn’t appear as though the proposed design change necessitated much if any reengineering of the technology underpinning Face ID, which could give further scope for Apple to reduce the size of the notch further in future generations. While a notchless iPhone is the dream, we seem to be at least one step closer to that reality.

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