Apple may be closer than ever to changing the way the iPhone’s front looks. A new leak claims the iPhone 18 Pro lineup will introduce under-screen Face ID, while the rest of the iPhone 18 family sticks with the familiar Dynamic Island.
The details come from Digital Chat Station, a well-known supply chain leaker who shared new information this week on Weibo.
Display Sizes Stay The Same
According to the leak, Apple is not changing screen sizes with the iPhone 18 generation.
The expected lineup looks like this:
- iPhone 18: 6.3-inch LTPO OLED, 120Hz, Dynamic Island
- iPhone Air 2: 6.5-inch LTPO OLED, 120Hz, Dynamic Island
- iPhone 18 Pro: 6.3-inch LTPO OLED, 120Hz, under-screen Face ID
- iPhone 18 Pro Max: 6.9-inch LTPO OLED, 120Hz, under-screen Face ID
Those dimensions mirror the current iPhone 17 lineup, suggesting Apple is focusing on internal changes rather than a visual refresh across the board.
Absolutely — here’s a tight, AE-style comparison callout you can drop straight into the article. It’s designed to anchor the rumor to familiar history without slowing the pace.
How Apple’s Front Display has Evolved
Apple has been inching toward this moment for years.
It started with the notch, introduced on the iPhone X. That design was controversial, but it allowed Apple to introduce Face ID while maximizing screen space at the time.
With the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple replaced the notch with Dynamic Island. Instead of hiding the cutout, Apple leaned into it, turning a hardware compromise into a software feature that could expand and contract based on what the phone was doing.
Now, the iPhone 18 Pro rumors point to the next step: hiding Face ID entirely under the display. If that happens, the visible cutout could shrink to a simple hole for the front camera, or potentially disappear from view altogether.
Seen this way, the progression is clear:
- Notch: make room for Face ID
- Dynamic Island: make the cutout useful
- Under-screen Face ID: make it nearly invisible
If the leak is accurate, the iPhone 18 Pro would not just tweak the front design. It would complete a multi-year transition Apple has been carefully working toward.
The Pro Models Get The Real Upgrade
The more interesting part of the leak is what happens to Face ID.
Digital Chat Station claims the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will hide the Face ID system beneath the display for the first time. That lines up with a previous report from The Information, which said Apple plans to move the front-facing camera to a small hole-punch cutout in the top-left corner of the screen.
If that happens, the iconic pill-shaped cutout could finally disappear on Pro models.
What remains unclear is the future of the Dynamic Island. Even with under-screen Face ID, Apple could still keep Dynamic Island as a software feature that appears when needed for Live Activities, navigation, or system alerts. Or Apple could treat this as the first real step toward phasing it out entirely.
Notably, this leak avoids using the term “Dynamic Island” when describing the Pro models, which may be intentional.
A Split Launch, Inside and Out
The leak also reinforces the idea that Apple is comfortable splitting its lineup.
The standard iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 are expected to keep the Dynamic Island and launch later than the Pro models. Current rumors suggest Apple will release the Pro phones in the usual September window, while the non-Pro models may not arrive until spring 2027.
If true, the iPhone 18 generation would be divided not just by price, but by design philosophy. Pro users get new display tech and a cleaner front. Everyone else sticks with a more familiar look.
Still a Rumor, But a Believable One
Digital Chat Station has a solid track record, but this is still unconfirmed information. Apple has been working toward under-screen Face ID for years, and the iPhone 18 timeframe makes sense for a first-generation rollout limited to Pro models.
If this leak holds, the iPhone 18 Pro could mark the biggest visual change to the front of the iPhone since the notch was replaced by Dynamic Island. And this time, Apple might finally be ready to make it smaller, or make it disappear.
- iPhone Fold Rumors Heat up With New Specs on Design and Cameras - February 2, 2026
- Creator Studio May Be Just The Beginning of Apple’s Push Into Bundled Subscriptions - February 1, 2026
- Apple’s Upcoming New MacBook Pro To Launch Alongside macOS 26.3 Update - February 1, 2026