Apple is exploring an iPhone design that could eliminate nearly every visible border around the display, but the technology needed to make it work still faces significant engineering challenges.
New details describe a display Samsung is developing that bends sharply downward at nearly 90 degrees along all four edges, allowing the screen to extend around the sides of the device.
Unlike the curved displays previously used on some Android phones, the main viewing area would remain completely flat.
From the front, the iPhone could appear almost entirely borderless, with the display wrapping around its perimeter.
Samsung still has some difficult problems to solve
Bending an OLED panel around all four edges introduces several complications, particularly at the corners where the curves meet.
The extreme bends can cause visible distortion and color shifts, while maintaining the protective layers that shield the OLED panel from moisture and damage becomes more difficult.
A screen that wraps around every side also creates challenges for antenna placement and other components normally housed around the phone’s frame.
These are substantial obstacles for a device that needs to survive everyday handling, accidental drops, and years of use. Apple is said to be waiting for Samsung to resolve the display challenges before moving ahead with the design.
The 2027 iPhone could be a step toward it
Apple’s 20th-anniversary iPhone, expected in 2027, is already rumored to feature a four-sided curved display, although with much gentler curves than the nearly 90-degree bends described in the latest claim.
That design could bring Apple closer to its long-standing ambition of creating an iPhone that looks like a continuous sheet of glass.
The more extreme wraparound concept would take that idea considerably further, potentially removing the visible frame around the display almost entirely.
No launch timeline has been reported for the technology, and Samsung’s progress remains uncertain. For now, the rumored anniversary iPhone offers a more immediate glimpse of how Apple might begin moving toward a nearly borderless design.
