Metalenses can be employed in any case in which it is important to reduce the size and weight of the optics in the system. These include lidar for 3D sensing in autonomous vehicles and facial recognition systems like Face ID. 

Yesterday, Chinese tech site MyDrivers posted a supply chain report revealing that Apple is working to reduce their dynamic Island (the Notch) by using Metalens technology for iPhone 17.  

So what is Metalens technology? Metalenses are increasingly seen as viable solutions for improving system performance while reducing system size and weight in complex imaging and illumination devices. This is because a single metalens can often be used to achieve the same performance that would otherwise require multiple “traditional” optical components within the device.

The metalens is a flat, lightweight option that can replace bulky traditional lenses and other components in optical systems. A single thin metalens can combine the functionality of multiple optical components in a complex system — for example, replacing the mask and lens system used in a traditional dot projector. Metalenses can also be used to achieve additional functionalities like polarization manipulation and splitting. In fact, polarization is being leveraged to combine functionalities in sources such as dot projectors and diffusers for 3D sensing in applications like AR and computational photography.

The vast majority of MyDriver' report rehashes already covered rumors about iPhone 17 that you could review here via WCCFTech.

There's no doubt that this technology could be an option for Apple's quest to diminish or eliminate the notch or Dynamic Island as we know it today. However, the rumor didn't point to a lens supplier that could actually deliver this next-gen solution for the iPhone.

So is the rumor about Apple implementing a Metalens solution wishful thinking or something that Apple could actually deliver for the iPhone 17 or future iPhone? While I think it's the former, only time will tell if Apple can actually pull off a major surprise like this using a next-gen lens system. What are your thoughts on this?