iPhone 15 could ditch completely straight lines for curved glass at the edges

After three generations with a largely unchanged design, Apple could change the design of the iPhone 15 series in 2023. It looks like the look with very straight lines and completely flat glass panels will be ditched in favor of “curved” ones. However, the screen will still remain completely flat. This information comes from a reputable Twitter leaker, ShrimpApplePro, who also provided information that was then confirmed at the time of the official announcement.

iPhone 15 series models could be curvier around the edges

According to a series of Tweets from ShrimpApplePro, the iPhone 15 Pro and the new iPhone 15 Ultra model, which will replace the Pro Max variant on offer, will feature curved glass panels above the screen, but with significantly thinner edges. This means that Apple will most likely use a new generation of OLED displays, which allows for this. ShrimpApple Pro’s source suggests that phones with curved edges will offer a similar design to the Apple Watch.

The iPhone 15 series won’t change the model offerings we currently see, however, aside from the name change to Pro Max. The same two screen sizes are expected for the standard and Pro variants: 6.1″ and 6.7″. Incidentally, the base, standard and Plus models will get the same curved edges, but slightly thicker, along with Dynamic Island. This does away with the notch, a design element that debuted in 2017 with the iPhone X.

Apple will again use Ceramic Shield, Corning’s proprietary version of tempered glass, which is similar in performance and composition to Gorilla Glass Victus, used on Android smartphones.

– vanilla 15 will also have curved edges. With dynamic island.
– same dynamic Island cutouts, same Ceramic Shield(it ain’t broke so why bother), source don’t see any difference in the camera hole so probably no upgrade(?)

– ShrimpApplePro 🍤 (@VNchocoTaco) January 21, 2023

The leaker says he expects CAD models of the phones to start appearing in March or April, when the design of the iPhone 15 variants should be settled, to allow enough time to order components from suppliers. Apple usually starts production of the phones in the summer, with the phones arriving in stores towards the end of September.

Among the hardware upgrades currently being talked about in relation to the iPhone 15 are Apple’s A17 Bionic processor, an optical zoom camera that could rival the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and perhaps a USB-C jack for charging and data transfer. However, not all models will get all of these upgrades. Only the Pro variants could get the new processor, and only the Ultra variant could adopt the new zoom camera. Nor would the USB port be equally fast on all. The Pro variants could get USB 3 transfer speeds, while the “standard” and Plus variants could only get USB 2 speeds.