Did you see the picture in the Bloomberg article? Eager to point to various features already implemented by other manufacturers (as if...).
Considering how much reflexion there is to the side because of Samsung's idiotic design, it is arguable that they were the first. The essential phone is basically sold in ultra minute quantity and basically just came out so that's kind of a non sequitur. The new Iphone has the most usable screen space of any other device (because low contrast of curved sides are in fact HUGE ASS BEZELS in disguise).
If this story is correct it appears that Apple has decided to embrace the notch at the top rather than trying to disguise it or make it blend in. I hope that’s wrong. That black cutout is ugly.
You do not understand design, it would look ugly if they tried to permanently disguise it. As it is now the design is timeless, keeping in mind that there's no way not to have sensors on the front of the camera. Notice that cars had grills initially as a form follows function thing where they needed air flowing over the radiator. Then consumer cars embraced a clean no grill look when it became unnecessary. But notice how even though not needed any longer luxury car makers jealously guard their iconic grill designs. While not in this league, that is nevertheless how I perceive the notch. The 'notch and ears' will be Apple's equivalent of the famous car grills a good one of which is Bugatti, compare a 1930's Bugatti grill with the grill on their Veyron.
Sorry there’s nothing iconic about the notch or the ears IMO. Other phone makers did a better job with antenna lines than Apple did with iPhone 6 so it’s not like they never make questionable design choices. The question here is, is this what Jony Ive chose to accept from an engineering standpoint so as much of the screen as possible would be bezel free? Did they ever think about having a thinner bezel on the top and bottom to be able to hide the sensors and keep the design symmetrical? It seems like the tech world was so obsessed with getting rid of bezels and now when they see the result they realize maybe bezels weren’t so bad after all.
Let me explain it another way. When I was a youngster before mainstream pornography was commonplace, we discovered that one could view nude women on Bondi beach simply by using a horizontal V sign and using those two fingers to block out the top and bottom half of the bikini. Wa la, instant nude. The best illusions persist even when you know the trick. This is what Apple has done with the iPhone 8, the ultimate design would be to have the thinnest bezel all the way around, but that is just not possible, and it never will be, but that is what Apple have achieved by tricking your brain. You brain naturally traces out edges of things, it's what it does.
To address the 'iconic' thing, by coming up with an idea that is simple and obvious once you see it doesn't alter the fact that it's unlikely any other manufacturer would have been bold enough to do this. It's brilliant and it cannot be copied (although with the shameless Samsung I'd not put anything past them). Your myopic way of thinking that you need a clean flat line misses the very very difficult design problem that smartphones have. That is it's basically a flat oblong slab, their ain't much you can do. Square corners or rounded corners of varying radii, then what flat sides or curved sides, and we're done. The iPhone 8 reminds me of the Eames lounge chair, even the colours.
It's brilliant and I predict that this idiocy of mass first world outrage at a phone like the iPhone 7 which is the 3rd year in a row without a change in shape is going to be over for good soon because the new iPhone 8 will be the blueprint for the future and Apple can concentrate on the operation of the phone itself. It's like the modern smartphone has finally evolved it's permanent shape. Even a completely bezel free phone would not be an improvement, this is what Samsung mistakenly thought was clever with their curved edge screen, they listened to the masses whereas Apple listened to design language.
Comments
The essential phone is basically sold in ultra minute quantity and basically just came out so that's kind of a non sequitur.
The new Iphone has the most usable screen space of any other device (because low contrast of curved sides are in fact HUGE ASS BEZELS in disguise).
To address the 'iconic' thing, by coming up with an idea that is simple and obvious once you see it doesn't alter the fact that it's unlikely any other manufacturer would have been bold enough to do this. It's brilliant and it cannot be copied (although with the shameless Samsung I'd not put anything past them). Your myopic way of thinking that you need a clean flat line misses the very very difficult design problem that smartphones have. That is it's basically a flat oblong slab, their ain't much you can do. Square corners or rounded corners of varying radii, then what flat sides or curved sides, and we're done. The iPhone 8 reminds me of the Eames lounge chair, even the colours.
It's brilliant and I predict that this idiocy of mass first world outrage at a phone like the iPhone 7 which is the 3rd year in a row without a change in shape is going to be over for good soon because the new iPhone 8 will be the blueprint for the future and Apple can concentrate on the operation of the phone itself. It's like the modern smartphone has finally evolved it's permanent shape. Even a completely bezel free phone would not be an improvement, this is what Samsung mistakenly thought was clever with their curved edge screen, they listened to the masses whereas Apple listened to design language.