Next year's iPhone 8 is rumored to come with a bezel-less, edge to edge display.

IPhone 8's Bezel-less Screen

According to BGR, Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 will come with a front side that features large spaces at the top and bottom. This new design is not just a matter of aesthetics but it is actually needed in order to expand the screen across the device's face and allow various components to be placed, including the home button, sensors, speaker and front-facing camera. The iPhone 8 will likely not come with a headphone jack either.

By using this new design, Apple could even reduce the size of the iPhone 8 without having to reduce the display. But other rumors claim that Apple is also considering implementing an edge to edge display by reducing the top bezel of the handset. This type of screen has actually already been made by at least one company.

The Verge reports that Sharp has designed bezel-less displays for its smartphones before, such as its Corner R display that can be cut in different shapes. A similar solution would allow Apple implementing edge-to-edge displays in its iPhone 8 models. It is rumored that Sharp will increase its display manufacturing investments in order to start production of displays for the successor of iPhone 8, by 2018.

A full-screen solution would allow Apple to position the home button underneath the display. However, it is still unclear where the sensors, earpiece, and front-facing selfie camera would go in case of an edge-to-edge screen design.

Other Rumored iPhone 8 Features

Apple might introduce a radical change to the physical UI in next year's tenth-anniversary iPhone 8, as suggested by a patent issued this week. The device's edge-to-edge screen could be curved and the next flagship iPhone from Apple may use curved glass on the front and back of the handset. If this rumor proves to be true, then the physical home button needs to become completely virtual and a TouchID sensor will sit embedded under the screen, according to Forbes.