by Jason Snell
iPhone war on buttons, redux
Last year I talked to The Ringer’s Alyssa Bereznak about how the iPhone X was the culmination of Apple’s “war on buttons”, a somewhat silly way of referring to the company’s endless goal to simplify its industrial design by dropping interface chrome, buttons, ports, and anything else that diverges from the dream of a perfect, featureless slab of magical technology.
Today I’m quoted a bit in this new piece by Tonya Riley at CNBC on the same topic:
Recent reports indicate that Apple has been experimenting with touchless gestures and curved screens. If motion detectors were embedded into the screen, it would reduce the need for room in the bezel for sensors. A patent registered on March 8 shows that the company is still experimenting with how to mount its electronic components underneath the display itself. And the fact that the company has started focusing on producing more of its parts, such as its own MicroLED screens, has piqued the interest of designers and investors.Samsung currently supplies Apple with OLED screens, but rumors that the company will produce its own screens has shaken Samsung investors.
Like the speed of light, the ideal of a featureless slab is one that can be approached but never reached. And the closer you get, the slower you creep toward the goal.