The topic of a Notchless iPhone has been around for years now and especially in 2023 with several of our patent reports: 01, 02, 03, 04. Other smartphone OEMs that provide a smaller camera punch-hole design, only offer a selfie camera. Apple on the other hand is committed to providing Face ID which requires the use of a sophisticated camera setup to accommodate a depth camera and more. While the patents that we linked to above show their efforts of having the cameras under the display, in the shorter term, Apple may decide to simply reduce the size of the dreaded notch.

A recent rumor report by MacRumors  claimed that the iPhone 17 Pro Max is likely to have the smallest notch/Dynamic Island to date.

Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to how this may be accomplished.

Apple describes patent FIG. 1 below in-part as follows: It's a schematic frontal view of an iPhone (portable device #20), in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The iPhone (Portable device #20) comprises a display #22, covering most of the front of the iPhone (portable device). The iPhone further comprises an optical radiation source #24, which may be utilized for applications such as, for example, 3D mapping or face recognition. The embodiments of the invention enable the placement of source #24 behind an active part of display, as indicated by a dotted-line frame 26. 

Such a placement of source #24 saves display area, as otherwise the source would have to be placed in a notch area #28 (utilized for other devices, for example cameras and other radiation sensors), thus enlarging the notch and consequently reducing the useful area of display.

To review the full details behind this invention, check out granted patent 12158546.