jensonb

There are several problems here, but let's focus on the simplest one:

Unless this process is easier and cheaper than just watching someone type in the PIN or beating the snot out of them until they give it up (Which it's not) it is pointless and irrelevant. 

I don’t like my phone being in a case while I’m using it, but I do want some protection for my X from drops, bumps & scratches so I’m going back to using a slip cover as I did for iPhones prior to the 5. I went for this one.

I ordered mine (Silver/256GB) from a carrier (I'm switching my phone service to them, but my iPad is already with them). The website was falling apart so it was for Launch Day when I started, but by the time I was able to get the order completed it was something like 3-5 weeks. I'm not overly concerned though. I've had the new phone on launch day several times, and my current phone is only a bit over a year old so it'll happily keep me going. I don't mind waiting a bit longer, I'm sure it's worth the wait.

Hmm, the marketing materials I’d seen for Trådfri hadn’t made it clear they needed a wired-only hub for smart device control just like Hue. Kinda makes the idea of switching pointless for me. I’ll keep waiting for Sylvania’s bulbs, which apparently will work entirely independently, instead.

I doubt this relates to issues with the material. More likely, it is being done for the same reason as the Apple Watch: to hide the edges of the OLED Display when active and make the display harder to discern when off, by blending the bezel as seamlessly as possible into the black of the OLED Display. This effect is mostly replicated by the black iPhone 7 despite using an LCD, while on the White models a noticeable black edge exists around the display when active (and obviously, when it's off, it's all black). This relates to what Jony Ive was saying about Apple Watch at its debut regarding making it virtually impossible to discern where the physical object ends and the software begins. I can see them wanting to bring that approach to iPhone for the "wow" factor.

Sufficiently advanced technology, indistinguishable, magic, et cetera.