If you think the bezel-less iPhone X was the pinnacle of what Apple can achieve in smartphones, you may be wrong. According to a report in Bloomberg, the Cupertino-based tech firm is working on touchless control and curved screen-featuring iPhones.
As explained in the report, the touchless control seems to be similar to 3D gestures that you can perform by hovering your fingers slightly above the screen. Assumptions are that Apple may not be ready to mass produce such iPhones for the next two years. Citing ‘people familiar with the matter’ Bloomberg adds that this particular tech would take in to account the proximity of your fingers to the display.
It is being said that Apple will be building this tech right on the screen instead of using a motion gesture controller on the bezels, something similar to what Samsung does to implement Air Gestures in its smartphones.
Interestingly, Apple is also working on displays that gradually curve inward from top and bottom. For those unaware, the OLED screen of the iPhone X also bends inward from the bottom but is not visible to the human eye. It is also one of the reasons for the smartphone’s thickness. Apple is likely to use an OLED screen for the aforementioned tech as well as they are more flexible than the regular LCD screen panels.
Both these features are said to be in early test and development stages and it may as well be the case that Apple may decide to put this on a halt.
These two major screen technologies are said to come as Apple plans to make its iPhone handsets more distinct and stand out from the ever-expanding smartphone market where majority appear the same with bezel-less screens, powerful dual cameras and more.
Apple seems to be stressing a lot on screen development recently. Besides what has been mentioned above, a separate report from Bloomberg last month revealed that Apple is also working on microLED screens in a secret manufacturing facility near California. MicroLEDs can potentially let the company make slimmer smartphones with brighter and less power consuming screens.