Some of the iPhone 17 rumors sound pretty exciting, including the all-new iPhone 17 Air. But none of this year's new iPhones are tipped to have this innovation.
We've actually been hearing a lot about Apple's plans for the iPhone 18, and the state of Face ID once the phone actually goes on sale.
Now another rumor has repeated a lot of what we've already heard, promising that Face ID hardware will all go under the display in 2026 for the first time in an iPhone.
A first for the iPhone
This news comes from Digital Chat Station over on Weibo, citing sources in the supply chain. The leaker claims that the first big change is to the rear of the iPhone 17, which we've already seen in renders and dummy models. So expect the extended camera bar on the iPhone 17 Pro, Pro max and Air models.
The leaker goes on to claim Face ID will be heading under the screen next year, leaving a single hole-punch camera on the display. And then 2027 may then see the camera follow suit, leaving the iPhone 19 (or 20) with a totally uninterrupted display.
DCS doesn't go into any more details about which iPhone models in the 18 family will get these changes. My guess is that, at the very least, the Pro models will be first in line with the non-Pros waiting another year.
We've heard all this before
This year's iPhone 17 redesigns are all over the internet at this point, and it seems as though those changes are locked in — for better or worse.
We've also heard plenty of rumors about the 20th anniversary iPhone, and how it's going to change. Recent rumors have tipped the phone to get a totally uninterrupted display with the selfie camera disappearing under the screen.
Apple has also been slowly hiding Face ID hardware under the screen over the past few years, reducing the size of the notch and the screen cutout in the process. So pushing the final traces of hardware under the screen is the next logical step, and it's been rumored for quite some time now.
Whether it happens next year or 2027 doesn't really matter, assuming Apple is aiming for the true-full-screen display by the 20th anniversary launch.
We won't know for sure until much closer to the time, but in the meantime we still have this year's iPhone releases to look forward to. Be sure to check out our iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max hubs for all the latest news and rumors on the upcoming phones.
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