Despite the inclusion of the Action button and Dynamic Island, Apple’s top-end iPhones have stayed nearly identical to one another since the release of the iPhone X in 2017, but a new patent implies the company’s tried-and-true iPhone design may shift in one significant manner.
According to AppleInsider, Apple has been granted a patent for technology that could lead to future iPhones including a side-mounted display. According to the images linked to the patent in issue, this display would function similarly to the unfairly derided MacBook Touch Bar, which was last seen on the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020).
When we say’side-mounted display’, we mean a narrow display that lies beneath the iPhone’s volume and power buttons. Some existing phones, such as the Honor Magic 6 Pro, have edge-to-edge curved displays, but Apple’s patent appears to cover a display that exists independently of the primary front display.
This side-mounted display could presumably be used to display status messages, control music selection, and start apps in a similar way to the Dynamic Island, but it may also serve as a full-fledged replacement for some conventional iPhone buttons. Apple is already said to be replacing the iPhone 15 Pro’s capacitive Action button with a mechanical one on the iPhone 16, so a side-mounted display might mark the next evolution of this design concept.
In the pictures above (figures 15 and 16), Apple has utilized the Messages, Calendar, and Camera app icons as examples of how this side-mounted display could be used, indicating that it will be a flexible iPhone feature if it is truly implemented.
Of course, the latter point is far from guaranteed. Patent applications are the earliest stage of an idea’s development, and this example could just be Apple attempting to prevent other manufacturers from incorporating identical technologies in their own planned devices.
That being said, Apple is obviously experimenting with radically new iPhone designs; reports predict we may see the company’s first foldable iPhone as early as 2026, for example. There’s only so many times that iPhone loyalists will settle for incremental annual upgrades.
So, while we strongly advise against anticipating a side-mounted display on the iPhone 16 (read: forget it), we believe that some truly intriguing iPhone design enhancements are on the way.
