New iPhone 18 Pro design hides facial recognition under the screen and features an advanced processor

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Bangkok, Thailand - October 18, 2023: Close Caixa iphone apple - Photo: dontree_m/istock

The North American technology manufacturer is developing a significant structural change for the future generation of its premium smartphones, specifically the line focused on high performance. The engineering project involves the complete transition of the facial biometrics system below the mobile device’s display panel. The technical modification aims to eliminate the need for large cutouts on the screen, maximizing the useful viewing area for the end user and changing the current concept of a dynamic interface that occupies the top of the display.

The development of this technology requires overcoming complex physical barriers related to the refraction of light through organic light-emitting diode display pixels. Hiding the infrared sensors requires a profound restructuring of the conductive layers of the screen. The engineering schedule points to the implementation of these changes exclusively in the brand’s most expensive models, establishing a new visual standard for the mobile device market and forcing the competition to seek similar continuous design solutions.

The change to the front design represents the most drastic change to the device’s physical interface since the removal of the traditional home button. The upper area of ​​the screen, currently occupied by a software system that camouflages the camera and security components, will undergo a drastic reduction in its physical size. The technical expectation indicates that only the front photographic lens will remain visible through a small circular hole in the glass, freeing up valuable space for displaying multimedia content and operating system information.

Historical context and evolution of design

The design trajectory of the company’s smartphones has undergone gradual transformations over the last decade, culminating in the adoption of the top notch and, more recently, the dynamic interface. The transition to a fully seamless display has represented the ultimate goal of the company’s hardware engineering for several generations of commercial products. Concealing the true depth system components requires the display to maintain its image quality, refresh rate, and peak brightness while allowing infrared light to pass through cleanly and without distortion to map the user’s face with millimeter precision. The process of miniaturization and adaptation of optical emitters and receivers demands significant investments in research and development of new transparent conductive materials. Além additionally requires close coordination with panel manufacturers partners in The structural integrity of the front glass also needs to be maintained to withstand daily impacts, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the large-scale manufacturing project, requiring rigorous durability testing before final hardware approval.

Under-display recognition technology

The operation of the facial security system depends on the projection of thousands of invisible points on the user’s face. The detailed reading of these points by an infrared camera creates a precise three-dimensional map for releasing the operating system.

By moving this complex mechanism below the screen, the company faces the direct challenge of loss of light intensity. The organic and inorganic materials that make up the display function as a physical filter that attenuates the optical signals emitted and received.

Para To circumvent this hardware limitation, the industry is working on developing image correction algorithms based on machine learning. Estes software compensates for the distortion caused by screen layers in real time when reading the owner’s face.

The specific area of ​​the panel located above the sensors will need to have a reduced pixel density compared to the rest of the screen. Essa technical configuration allows greater light capture, essential for quick recognition in completely dark environments.

Engineering and Supply Challenges

The commercial viability of this innovative technology on a large scale requires a highly capable and stable supply chain. Asian screen suppliers, responsible for producing the majority of the brand’s panels, need to adapt their assembly lines to integrate areas with different optical characteristics into the same electronic component. The exact region where the biometric sensors will be positioned requires a distinct molecular structure to allow adequate passage of light beams, without compromising the color fidelity of the graphical interface displayed to the user during normal use of the device in everyday tasks.

The mass production of panels with these rigorous specifications initially presents low yield rates in factories, which increases the manufacturing cost of each unit approved in quality control. Materials engineering works to search for alternative transparent compounds that can be applied to the display matrices without generating excessive heating. The success of this industrial validation stage is essential to ensure that the device reaches the final consumer market without delays in the global launch schedule and with sufficient stock volume to meet the typical demand for premium category devices, avoiding logistical bottlenecks.

Advanced processor and two nanometer architecture

The new mobile device’s computing performance will be driven by the next-generation processor, tentatively identified by the semiconductor industry as A20. Este central component will use the unprecedented two-nanometer manufacturing process developed by specialized partner foundries.

The extreme reduction in silicon chip lithography allows the inclusion of a significantly greater number of transistors in the same physical package space. Isso results in a direct and measurable increase in the speed of data processing and execution of concurrent tasks.

Além of the gross speed gain, the new semiconductor architecture offers greater energy efficiency than previous models, requiring new thermal dissipation systems. Reduced battery consumption by the processor is essential to support complex artificial intelligence operations performed locally on the device’s hardware.

Updates to the device’s camera system

The photographic set positioned on the back of the smartphone will receive mechanical modifications to expand its professional image capture capabilities. The main documented technical change involves the introduction of a main lens with a variable aperture system, similar to that found in dedicated cameras.

Este physical and movable mechanism allows precise control of the amount of natural light that reaches the high-resolution image sensor. The functionality provides greater control over optical depth of field and substantially improves photographic performance in low-light environments, reducing digital noise.

Network connectivity and transmission speed

The smartphone’s wireless communication infrastructure will be updated to the latest and fastest standard available on the telecommunications market. Native integration of Wi-Fi 7 local network technology ensures significantly higher data transfer rates, operating on multiple frequencies simultaneously.

The new wireless network protocol reduces latency on congested residential connections and improves overall internet signal stability. Improved bandwidth capacity meets growing user demand for ultra-high-resolution video streaming, competitive online gaming, and fast transfers of large files to cloud servers.

Market strategy for the premium line

The concentration of these high-cost technological innovations in higher-end models reinforces the manufacturer’s commercial strategy of product differentiation. The company seeks to justify its higher retail price positioning through the exclusivity of advanced hardware features, while maintaining a clear and discernible technical distance from standard versions of its mobile portfolio offered to global consumers.