Apple trims the notch again, but android left this party years ago
Apple’s next trick is a 6.5-millimetre diet. A fresh stack of screen-protector blanks out of Shenzhen shows the iPhone 18 Pro’s Dynamic Island shaved to 13.49 mm across, down from 20.76 mm on this year’s 17 Pro. That is the entire headline—no under-panel Face ID, no invisible camera, just a haircut.
The anatomy of a 35 % cut
Look at the leaked plastic: the left lobe that hides the TrueDepth flood illuminator and dot projector is the only side touched. The right half—ambient light, proximity sensor—stays put, meaning Apple has crammed the same components into a third less space. Engineers inside Pegatron have whispered for months that the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array is moving from glass to a flexible printed circuit jammed under the ear speaker, buying back real estate without touching the OLED stack.
Apple’s marketing machine will christen this “a more immersive canvas.” The numbers say otherwise. Samsung’s Z Fold 6 already hides its camera completely; Google’s Pixel 9 will ship with a 2.5 mm centred hole. Cupertino is still years behind.
Supply-chain triage, not revolution
Why now? The single-punch rumour for 2026 collapsed when yields on under-display infrared sensors flat-lined at 30 % in May. Apple’s fallback plan—code-named “Naples” inside the factories—keeps the external island but tightens it, letting the company re-use existing Face ID modules and avoid a re-tooling bill north of $400 million. The smaller cutout is the cheapest path to a new silhouette for the keynote cameras.
Pro buyers get the privilege of paying for it. Sources at LG Display say the new notch film requires an extra laser ablation pass, adding roughly $3.40 per panel. Multiply by 90 million units and Apple nets a $300 million line-item for what is essentially a cosmetic tweak.
The shelf is still stale
Outside the Island, nothing moves. Bezels freeze at 1.55 mm, the same as the 17 Pro. The chassis remains flat-edge aluminium, USB-C, Action Button, Capture Button—check, check, check. Analysts at TrendForce already forecast that the 18 line will trigger the smallest refresh-cycle bump since the iPhone 12 mini, somewhere between 6–8 % uplift versus the usual double-digit pop.
Android makers are not even bothering to counter-punch. Honor, Oppo and OnePlus executives privately scoff that Apple is “celebrating catching up to 2020.” Their next flagship talking point is under-panel 3D face unlock, scheduled for MWC 2026—exactly when Apple now admits its own version is “not yet feasible.”
So the iPhone 18 Pro will arrive with a slimmer pill, the same walled garden, and a price hike rumoured at $1,199. Apple will call it daring. Everyone else will call it Wednesday.