iPhone 13 notch — how much smaller is it?

(Prototype credit: Apple tree)

Ane of the key changes with the newly announced iPhone xiii lineup is staring you right in the face when you lot look at the display of any of the four new models — a smaller notch. The unsightly abode to the Face ID tech, front-facing photographic camera, and earpiece has finally shrunk for the offset time since it was introduced.

Besides just looking better, the smaller notch offers more than screen real estate for both the condition bar and widescreen content that has to mold itself around the notch. (Call back photos and videos.) Apple says the notch on the iPhone 13 is now twenty% smaller than previous phones dating dorsum to the iPhone Ten, and based on the images and renders shown off at the product launch Tuesday (Sept. 14), the change is certainly noticeable.

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Apple introduced the notch on the iPhone X, which was likewise the first phone with Face ID. That technology requires several sensors, and the front-facing camera needs to sit somewhere. Then Apple, in its desire to create an all-screen experience, opted for a notch cutout for all the stuff it needed instead of a chunky bezel to house the photographic camera and other sensors.

The notch was criticized immediately, and I think finding information technology quite unattractive at the time. In the years since, and fifty-fifty later I switched to an iPhone 12 Pro as my daily driver, my opinion of the notch hasn't changed. I discover it ugly, and it significantly detracts from an otherwise beautiful telephone.

iphone 13 notch vs iphone 12 notch — The iPhone xiii'south notch (left) is clearly smaller than the notch on the iPhone 12 (correct). (Epitome credit: Apple)

It seems like the iPhone 13 remains all in on Face ID, which is fine — equally long as yous're not wearing a mask. Apple'southward lack of mask-friendly authentication with the iPhone 13 is another story altogether, just you lot're basically out of luck unless yous have an Apple Watch for the workaround introduced in iOS 14.5.

A smaller notch is a step in the right direction, especially as Apple allegedly works on nether-display Face ID tech and mayhap a notch-gratuitous iPhone in the future. Considering the poor country of under-display forepart-facing cameras right now, I'd estimate the notch is hither to stay for a while. Still, I'll take what I tin get and I commend the effort to shrink the notch.

To accommodate the size reduction for the iPhone 13 notch, Apple moved the earpiece above the notch and smushed the Confront ID sensors closer together. A xx% reduction doesn't seem like all that much, but be gear up for side-by-side (or front-to-back) comparisons between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 to run across just how things accept changed.

More: Ballsy iPhone thirteen Pro deal is gratuitous with trade-in at AT&T right at present

Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written nearly phones for over v years and plans to continue for a long while to come. He loves aught more than than relaxing in his dwelling house with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Jordan tends to lurk on social media, only you can all-time reach him on Twitter.