Should we trust the rumor about the iPhone 14, when the iPhone 13 has not yet been unveiled?

The iPhone 13 is not yet released that some rumors are starting to emerge regarding the iPhone 14… and not least. This is important, both to have a vision of the evolution of Apple smartphones in the medium term, but also to notice how the universe of rumors, in tech, must be navigated with the greatest caution. .

It all started on September 8, 2021, with images published by Jon Prosser, a man specializing in leaks of more or less verified information in tech. We see images (redesigned and unofficial) of an iPhone 14, planned for 2022, which would supposedly not have a notch.

"Mockup" images invented from alleged iPhone 14 leaks

What is that notch on the iPhone?

Since the iPhone X (2017), Apple has integrated a notch on the top of the screen of its smartphones: it's a fairly imposing black bar about 5mm high, which doesn't take up the full width – giving it its very recognizable look.

This area still takes up a lot of space - after having imitated it, other Apple competitors then preferred to turn to other alternatives, such as a "hole in the screen", or even by making totally disappear the camera under the screen. Tim Cook's multinational justifies this large notch by what it hides: several holes and sensors that each have their uses.

It's the speakers, the front camera, but also all the Face ID hardware (which allows the phone to recognize your face and do things like unlock the phone or identify itself on a site), including an infrared camera, an infrared illuminator (a kind of flash) and a “point projector” that allows you to map your face as precisely as possible. This set of sensors is called TrueDepth.

What the notch hides on iPhones

Source: Apple

Will the iPhone notch disappear?

While Apple is supposed to present its iPhone 13 on September 14, it's the iPhone 14 that's on everyone's lips . All because of Jon Prosser, a youtuber specializing in rumors, who published a video on September 8 in which he broadcasts images supposed to show that Apple would get rid of the famous notch on the screens of its next (future) smartphones.

The videographer asked Ian Zelbo, a designer, to create images based on information that a source would have brought to him. It must therefore be emphasized that the images we see today are not photos of real iPhone 14s, but illustrations of what they could be.

Two very important features stand out:

"Mockup" images invented from alleged iPhone 14 leaks

Will the iPhone 14 have a hole instead of the notch on the front? (mockup image)

A rumor has it that the iPhone 14 no longer has this relief on the back (mockup image)

Can we trust this rumor?

That's the whole problem with rumors in the tech world, and in particular those echoed by certain influencers , who are never safe from making mistakes.

On the one hand, the iPhone 14 is very far from being in our hands: if we follow Apple's product presentation cycle, it would only be "shown" for the first time in September 2022. This gives a product time to evolve, and therefore requires taking with a grain of salt all the rumors that may be circulating around the product.

On the other hand, the very principle of the profession of influencers specializing in rumors and leaks is to take the risk of being wrong. In fact, Jon Prosser has been wrong on a regular basis — not necessarily on his own, but sometimes sources are wrong, or even share truthful information at a "t" time, and then the company decides to change strategy or project.

Finally, in the world of smartphone leaks, and especially for giants like Apple, it often happens that the right question to ask is not "is the rumor true?" but "when will it become so?" ". The example of the notch is telling: Apple has been dragging its notch for 4 years, the design of which many criticize, and it is obvious that the company would dream of a screen without any mark on the front. It is therefore certain that it is working on alternatives to transform this area and make it more elegant – this has been the subject of press articles for several months now, especially after a meeting of Apple with its investors, which suggested that the firm might be working on a way to integrate its front camera under the screen.

As tech journalist Nicolas Lellouche noted, it can happen that leaks supposed to concern a smartphone model only materialize in the next version.

Apple and its "notch", a lasting story

Apple is clearly not "proud" of its notch. As early as 2017, we noticed that advertisements for the iPhone X managed to hide the famous notch in a shadow, so as not to spoil the impression of having a screen without any protuberance – moreover, the company has been sued for misusing the term "All Screen".

An amusing anecdote, noted by our colleagues from Frandroid, shows how much the firm would like to erase this small shadow on the board: at the end of August 2021, an Internet user noticed that in the Ted Lasso series, the characters were using an iPhone… without any notch . However, this program is an original Apple TV+ production, which means that Apple is in charge (or, at least, the financing), and has validated the decision to surreptitiously erase the notch from the phone.

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