iOS 26 gives us a glass-like UI, but Apple’s long-term vision for iPhones is what former design chief Jony Ive referred to as a “single pane of glass.”
A new Apple patent application seems to indicate work on this, describing a “six-sided glass casing”…
An all-glass iPhone
He may be long gone from his position at Apple, but the company is believed to still be working on realizing his vision of a device that looks like a single pane of glass.
The company’s first major step towards this was the launch of the iPhone X in 2017, but progress since then has been gradual. The width of the edges has gradually decreased, but they are still quite clear.
Getting rid of it completely would require a curved screen that curves around the sides of the device. The Apple Watch fakes that look, by hiding the bezels under the curved glass, but the company’s goal with the iPhone is for the display to be active all the way up to those curved edges.
Samsung achieved this With aspects of the previous Galaxy Edge seriesbut the trade-off was too great in the forehead and chin areas, and the company changed its goal to make the thinnest bezels possible.
However, it is believed that Apple would like to go beyond this, making the entire iPhone look like just one solid sheet of glass.
The latest patent describes six sides of the glass
A Patent application The glass case describes how Apple might approach this.
The electronic device includes a six-sided glass enclosure defining the internal volume and consisting of a first glass member and a second glass member. The first glass segment defines at least a portion of the first main side of the six-sided glass enclosure, at least a portion of the circumferential side of the six-sided glass enclosure, a first region along the circumferential side having a first thickness, and a second region along the circumferential side having a second thickness different from the first thickness. The second glass member is attached to the first glass member and defines at least a portion of the second main side of the six-sided glass case.
The electronic device also includes a touchscreen display within the internal volume and is positioned adjacent to at least a portion of each of the six sides of the six-sided glass enclosure.
“At least part of” will likely do some heavy lifting there, as Apple admits it won’t be glass and nothing but glass. However, the company says it will give appearance From a single sheet of glass.
The case may appear smooth visually and tactilely, such that the entire case may appear to be composed of a single piece of glass (although it may be composed of several separate pieces joined together).
Additionally, the app says content will be displayed on each edge, and each edge will also be touch-sensitive.
The electronic device may further include a touch-sensitive display assembly attached to the interior surface of the container and configured to display visual graphical output through at least a portion of each of the two main sides and at least a portion of each of the four peripheral sides of the container, and detect tactile input applied to the container.
Apple says there will be holes in the glass for microphones and speakers.
The company is of course some time away from actually being able to manufacture this. Right now, the closest we might get is the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, which will be the thinnest iPhone the company has ever made.
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