A 3D-printed mockup of an upcoming iPhone apparently shows the handset won’t come with a “notch” at the top of the screen. But it does pack a USB-C port. Both are changes many iPhone users have been hoping for.
This will possibly be a 2021 iPhone, not one of the four models rumored for this fall.
Good news for the budget 2021 iPhone
The Japanese site Macotakara, also known as Mac Treasure Tracing Club, obtained the notchless iPhone mockup from Alibaba, the Chinese online retail giant.
The mockup shows an edge-to-edge display but no screen cutout. Previous rumors indicated that Apple is looking to reduce the size of the notch or eliminate it completely.
Ever since the notch debuted with the iPhone X, some people have complained about the black cutout where Apple placed the TrueDepth camera system that enables Face ID and other features. (Other iPhone owners love the notch.)
The latest mockup could depict the rumored 5.4-inch iPhone 12. Unconfirmed reports indicate that device will cost $649 and will lack Face ID. It’ll use Touch ID, with the biometeric scanner either under the screen or on the side of the phone. If the front-facing camera doesn’t sit in a notch, Apple would apparently place it under the display, too.
However, Macotakara refers to the device depicted in the mockup as an iPhone 13. This could reflect a report from trusted TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that Apple pushed back the device’s release from the first half of 2021 until the second half.
Mockups 101
Mockups of upcoming iPhones are common, and aren’t concept devices. They’re supposedly 3D-printed from detailed specifications obtained from Apple’s Asian supply chain. In the past, these types of mockups proved quite accurate.
But it makes no sense that component-makers would already have the specs for a 2021 iPhone. Either this mockup is of a handset already in production, or it’s a complete fabrication.
Macotakara filmed a short video of the 2021 iPhone mockup it obtained.