Jaw-dropping iPhone 12 design gives us the flagship we've been dreaming of

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iPhone 12 concept design turns the latest leaks into one stylish smartphone

iPhone 12 concept design
(Image credit: Jonas Daehnert)

The iPhone 12 will be one of the most exciting phones to launch this year. And using the rumors and information currently available, one designer has made a design mockup worthy of that excitement, even if it does feature one component that seems unlikely to appear on the actual phone.

The design you see on this page was made by Jonas Daehnert, who goes by the handle PhoneDesigner on Twitter and Instagram, where he posted these images.

The designs here share plenty of details with other renders we've seen based on long-standing iPhone 12 rumors. This includes the flat sides (a change from the curved sides seen on iPhones since the iPhone X), and the quad-camera array on the back, including the main/ultrawide/telephoto trio used on the current iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. There's also an added LiDAR depth sensor to improve AR application experiences and enhance built-in photo effects like portrait mode.

As Daehnert mentions in the caption to his Instagram post, he based these renders on the leaked features and CAD data recently published by YouTuber EverythingApplePro and Twitter leaker Max Weinbach. This includes design features such as a tiny 1.55mm (0.06 inches) bezel, a smaller display notch with sharper-angled curves, and a 7.3mm (0.28 inches) total thickness, which will make the phone beautiful to look at and to hold, assuming these leaks are as reliable as they're thought.

The controversial part of this design is that it includes a Smart Connector (the darker-colored capsule shape on the phone's left side). This would theoretically act like the one found on the iPad Pro, charging and linking with accessories such as a miniaturized Apple Pencil stylus, which would be a first for an iPhone. 

However, leaker Jon Prosser expressed scepticism at this being included on the iPhone 12, believing it will arrive on a future iPhone, but only as a charging method.

Daehnert has colored this concept in a traditional Apple white, but we can expect a more interesting navy blue version of the iPhone 12 too. This was leaked earlier this year, and is alleged to be replacing the Midnight Green color currently available on the iPhone 11 Pro.

Designs like these can't tell us much about what's inside the phone though. According to the rumors and leaks we've heard so far, the iPhone 12 will be Apple's first phone with 5G connectivity, and will also feature a new CPU (assumed to be the A14 Bionic), a 120Hz OLED display, and a LiDAR depth sensor on the Pro models. All of this will be split across four total versions (two standard, two Pro) and will come in either 5.4-inches, 6.1-inches or 6.7-inches depending on the model.

Richard Priday
Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.