Apple is reportedly gearing up to make a major change to the iPhone’s display design in 2026. According to a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo by the reliable tipster Digital Chat Station, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will move toward a cleaner screen experience by hiding the Face ID system under the display, alongside a camera that sits behind the screen as well.
The leak claims the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will feature 6.27-inch and 6.86-inch OLED panels, respectively. Both screens will have LTPO refresh rate tech and 1.5K resolution.
However, the bigger shift is Apple’s adoption of HIAA (Hole-in-Active-Area) technology, which removes part of the screen’s pixel layer to let sensors underneath see through the display.
It’s difficult to perfect
This approach isn’t new in the smartphone industry. Android makers like Samsung and ZTE have already experimented with under-display cameras. But Apple’s challenge goes beyond just hiding a selfie shooter.
Its Face ID biometric tech relies on a suite of infrared components: a dot projector, a flood illuminator, and an IR camera. Most under-display tech is optimized for visible light, so adapting it for infrared use is not straightforward.
According to the report, Apple has already built it and is testing working prototypes. So it seems that the company may have overcome some of these hardware limitations.
Apple’s long-term goal to completely remove the Dynamic Island has been in circulation since at least the iPhone 15 series, with similar speculation cropping up around the iPhone 16 and 17.
While the iPhone 17 Pro Max is still expected to ship with a smaller Dynamic Island, a fully uninterrupted screen won’t arrive until the iPhone 18 lineup, assuming development and production stay on track.
As always with early leaks, timelines can shift. But if the under-display Face ID and camera system makes it to next year’s Pro models, it would mark Apple’s first significant external design overhaul since the introduction of the Dynamic Island in the iPhone 14 Pro.
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