Although official lips will probably be sealed until at least September, a tidal wave of rumours has already given us a tantalising glimpse at the upcoming iPhone 13. We've already heard suggestions that Apple will finally address the most controversial iPhone design feature – and one of the most renowned Apple leakers has just lent some serious credence to the rumour.
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 13 will be the first iPhone to feature a reduced notch. First introduced on 2017's iPhone X, the notch is often considered a blight on the supposedly all-screen design of contemporary iPhones. Indeed, anything that frees up precious pixels for the best iPhone apps can only be a good thing.
A recent render of the iPhone 13 (complete with smaller notch) (Image credit: PhoneArena)
As spotted by MacRumors, Kuo claims that the iPhone 13 line up will consist of four models (just like the iPhone 12), with the design largely unchanged. The most notable difference will be a smaller notch, which Apple plans to achieve by reducing the size of the Face ID system. We just hope Apple is still planning to bring back Touch ID as rumoured as well – Face ID isn't exactly ideal in a world of face masks.
This isn't the first time we've heard that the iPhone 13 will feature a smaller notch, something that can only be good news for creatives. Indeed, few digital artists are likely to say no to anything that turns the screen into an even larger digital canvas. There may be several iPhone 12 models on our best camera phones list, but we we wouldn't mind an edge-to-edge display that's actually, you know, edge-to-edge.
It seems we'll have to wait a little longer for a notch-less iPhone (seen here in a fan-made render) (Image credit: Ben Geskin)
From incredible battery tech to the addition of a ProMotion display with a super-slick refresh rate (currently only found on the iPad Pro), the iPhone 13 is shaping up to be more than a mere incremental upgrade. Of course, time will tell which rumours become a reality – check out our roundup of every iPhone 13 leak for a complete list of everything we might be getting.
Hopefully we'll find out what's in store in September. But remember – 2020 proved that even the normally steadfast iPhone release slot can become a moving target, with the iPhone 12 eventually popping up in October. Thankfully, the 12 proved to be a worthy upgrade – check out today's best deals below, and head over to our main Apple deals page for more offers.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.
