Apple might be developing an iPhone with an under-display camera, and if it's any good, it's going to be a herculean accomplishment. A recent rumor from Weibo user Digital Chat Station (translated into English) suggests that such a camera may appear in the 20th anniversary iPhone, which could be called the iPhone 20 and is expected to debut in 2027.
The idea of an under-display camera for an iPhone would be novel, but it's a feature that we've seen on a number of Android phones, with mixed results at best.
An under-display camera is just that. The phone's selfie camera is actually located behind the screen, rather than being nestled in a cutout or notch, such as the current Dynamic Island cutout on more recent iPhone models. In versions of this on Android phones, like the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the part of the display in front of the camera has fewer screen elements and translucent wiring, allowing the selfie camera to "see through" the screen like looking out a window that has opened blinds in front of it.
The RedMagic 11 Pro places its front-facing camera underneath the display to give more room to games.
Joseph Maldonado/CNETHaving an under-display camera does add reasonable appeal. Most of the ones we've seen on gaming phones, such as those made by RedMagic, as well as on earlier models of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, allow for an uninterrupted display free from cutouts and notches. Over the past decade, since the launch of phones with minimal bezels, we've seen Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Google try all kinds of styles that make room for the selfie camera without compromising the screen, including display notches, cutouts and even a mechanical pop-up camera. So finding a way to hide the camera underneath the display seems like a logical evolution.
However, for now, under-display cameras do a great job of hiding a camera, but they don't fulfill their primary purpose of taking good photos or making you look presentable on video calls. I've tested numerous RedMagic phones that have an under-display camera -- which is an excellent idea for a gaming phone, where taking full advantage of the screen is far more important than snapping selfies.
For instance, this photo taken with the 16-megapixel under-display selfie camera on the RedMagic 11 Pro makes me look super flat. My skin tone is washed out, almost like I'm wearing makeup.
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Taken on a Manhattan rooftop with the RedMagic 11 Pro's selfie camera.
Mike Sorrentino/CNETSamsung has also had challenges with under-display cameras. It started incorporating them into its foldable phones' internal displays, starting with 2021's Galaxy Z Fold 3. This often resulted in subpar photos; the Z Fold 6, for instance, had a 4-megapixel camera under the main display, which served up lower-resolution images. Still, my former colleague Lisa Eadicicco found Samsung's camera software helped refine the photos a bit, though there was still a bit of an "early-2010s" blur. It's no wonder, then, that Samsung ditched the under-display camera with this year's Galaxy Z Fold 7 and opted for a more traditional camera cutout on the main display.
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This selfie was taken with the Galaxy Z Fold 6's 4-megapixel interior camera.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNETSo, if Apple is indeed developing an under-display camera for an upcoming iPhone, hopefully, it's found a solution that differs from what we've seen from other phone makers. This isn't like how Apple took its time adding an always-on display option to the base iPhone 17, while other $800 Android phones have long made it a standard feature.
An under-display camera that meets the current standard of Apple's new 18-megapixel Center Stage selfie camera is going to need a bold reinvention on how an under-display camera can perform. That new camera -- featuring a square sensor for taking vertical and horizontal photos while holding a phone vertically -- is so nice that it would be odd for Apple to move away from it so quickly just to get a camera underneath the display. Apple doesn't typically skimp on cameras, and it's notable that even this year's thin iPhone Air includes the same selfie shooter as every other iPhone 17 model.
If Apple can pull this off, it could mark the return of the company making truly big "one more thing" announcements. Because if Apple can create a good under-display camera, it could show other phone makers how it's done and create an industry-wide standard.
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