Notwithstanding the addition of the Action button and Dynamic Island, Apple’s top-end iPhones have remained nigh on identical to one another since the launch of the iPhone X in 2017, but a new patent suggests the company’s tried-and-tested iPhone design could eventually change in one big way.
As spotted by AppleInsider, Apple has been granted a patent for technology that could bring a side-mounted display – yes, a side-mounted display – to future iPhones. Judging by the illustrations attached to the patent in question, this display would offer similar functionality to the unfairly maligned MacBook Touch Bar, which last featured on the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020).
When we say ‘side-mounted display’, we’re talking about a thin display that sits below the iPhone’s volume or power buttons. Some existing phones, like the Honor Magic 6 Pro, boast edge-to-edge curved displays, but Apple’s patent seems to concern a display that exists in isolation of the main front display.
Presumably, this side-mounted display could be used to display status messages, control music selection and launch apps, in a manner akin to the Dynamic Island, though it might also serve as a full-blown replacement for some physical iPhone buttons. Apple is already rumored to be switching the iPhone 15 Pro’s capacitive Action button for a mechanical one on the iPhone 16, so a side-mounted display could represent the next stage of this design philosophy.
Image 1 of 2
In the illustrations above (figures 15 and 16), Apple has used the Messages, Calendar and Camera app icons as examples of how this side-mounted display might be used, so it’s clear that it’ll be a versatile iPhone tool, if indeed it does come to fruition.
Of course, the latter point is far from a given. Patent applications represent the earliest stage of an idea’s development, and this example may simply be a case of Apple looking to prevent other manufacturers from implementing similar technology on their own upcoming devices.
That said, Apple is clearly experimenting with radically different iPhone designs – rumors suggest we may see the company’s first foldable iPhone as soon as 2026, for instance – and there’s only so many times that iPhone loyalists will settle for incremental annual upgrades.
So, while we’d strongly advise against expecting a side-mounted display on the iPhone 16 (read: forget about it), we do think that some genuinely exciting iPhone design upgrades are on the horizon.