Forbes Mockup The iPhone 8 Status Bar
What also remains uncertain is how Apple will redesign iOS 11 to accommodate the ‘cutout’ at the top of the display which exists to accommodate the front facing camera and sensors.
What Nodus and I believe is the remaining corners will simply be used for connectivity and battery status with notifications switched to the bottom in a new easier-to-reach and more detailed ‘Function Area’.
These are the best renderings I’ve seen that illustrate the idea of marrying the physical notch with the software status bar. As ever, there are couple conceits.
First, this image is conveniently depicting the iPhone lock screen. It completely dodges the question of how Apple will handle showing the time in the status bar area. A holistic, real, design would have to consider where the time goes in general. Obviously, it can’t go in its standard status bar location because that space is where the front camera/sensor array is. A mockup that ignores this essential part of the experience is very lacking; it is skipping over a critical element of the concept.
Whilst this is a neat idea, I am not convinced that Apple will actually do this fake bezel thing on the lock screen at all. It’s such a waste to have this beautiful full-frame OLED display with rounded corners, only to hide the top two edges at all times. I think Apple will want to let the user’s wallpaper fill every possible pixel; retaining the symmetry of four rounded corners will be very visually impressive. Let the design be true to itself.
I imagine this would be the case on the lock screen and the home screen. In apps, a fake bezel approach is more likely but not a sure thing by any means. I imagine that the iPhone 8 will effectively have a permanent double-height status bar when inside apps; some of the status bar icons will go in the ‘ears’ and the rest flows into the second line. The time would therefore be centred beneath the notch.