Ice Universe posted a prediction over the weekend that I’ve been arguing with in my head ever since. The leaker expects Apple’s subsequent Professional iPhone to reach with a curved display screen, “or a minimum of one that appears curved,” and he thinks Android manufacturers will observe it straight again to the form they spent years sanding off their flagships. His larger gripe is with the business itself. Cellphone design retains looping, and each loop appears to get shorter.

He’s proper concerning the comeback… however the phrase dramatic? I’d say Android by no means totally let go of curved glass, and what disappeared was the arrogance to place that tumbler on an costly cellphone. An iPhone with comfortable edges fingers the arrogance straight again.

The hedge hiding within the leak

Not each curved display screen has a curved show. Honor’s explainer makes that distinction between waterfall panels that bend down the perimeters and a pair of.5D glass that curves over a flat OLED. The latter is cheaper to make and much much less annoying once you want a display screen protector. That’s the design I’d count on from Apple on the iPhone 20 Professional (4 curved glass edges, with a flat show sitting beneath).

I’d additionally look twice at Liquid Glass. Ever since iOS 26 began nudging apps to maintain controls away from the display screen edges, I’ve suspected Apple was clearing the runway for precisely this type of {hardware}. I carry an iPhone each day, and the additional respiration room on the sides of my apps would make much more sense with a curve ready on the finish of it. Name it a hunch with first rate circumstantial proof.

Motorola by no means bought the flat memo

Whereas everybody else appears pleased with flat screens, Motorola gave the Edge 70 Fusion a 6.8-inch quad-curved show again in March. It additionally calls the 144 Hz Pantone-validated panel an business first.

I’m much less satisfied by the marketed 5,200 nits. That’s a powerful quantity on paper, however I’d relatively see what the display screen does outside than belief a peak-brightness determine.

The armor is what I respect. IP68 and IP69 rankings plus MIL-STD-810H testing on a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 cellphone inform me Motorola heard each fragility criticism and selected to struggle them. Nonetheless, the Edge household splits individuals in a approach Motorola ought to fear about. The Edge 60 Professional is a cut price I’d fortunately level pals towards, but I can simply image somebody loving every thing about an Edge 50 Professional besides its sides and buying and selling all the way down to the flatter Edge 70 for that purpose alone.

HONOR saved bending glass too. The Magic6 Professional pairs a quad-curved 6.80-inch display screen with Honor’s NanoCrystal Defend, which the corporate says is ten instances extra drop-resistant than commonplace shows. I’d wish to watch that drop take a look at earlier than repeating the multiplier with a straight face. Vivo’s X200 Professional and OPPO’s Discover X8 Professional each curve on 4 sides as properly, and each show the form nonetheless has a spot on the high of a lineup.

Curves fell down the worth ladder

Telephones just like the Realme GT 6T introduced curved edges again to the mid-range a few years in the past, and that’s the place the difficulty began.

Chinese language consumers have at all times preferred curves, so the costly telephones there bought them first and a budget ones adopted. Then a budget ones caught up fully. The iTel S25 Extremely sells curved glass as its headline function at round $150, and the Tecno Pova Slim squeezes a 6.78-inch 3D curved AMOLED right into a physique 5.95mm thick with a modest Dimensity 6400 inside. Xiaomi’s Civi 3 has curved sides that do little past edge lighting results.

As soon as a cellphone that prices lower than a pleasant pair of earbuds wears the curve, a $1,200 flagship can’t use the identical curve to look costly anymore, and I feel that lack of standing, rather more than the cracked screens and the fussy protectors individuals like to cite, is why Samsung and Google walked away from it after they did.

Apple undoes that in a single keynote. Nothing makes a design really feel premium sooner than an iPhone adopting it, and Android product managers know the sample by coronary heart.

Samsung named a cellphone Edge and made it flat

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge is 5.8 mm thick and weighs 163g, and its entrance glass is Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 laid over a flat 6.7-inch show. Samsung’s press launch talks concerning the “optimally curved edges” of the titanium body. So the curve moved to the metallic, and the identify now guarantees one thing the display screen doesn’t ship. I discover that hilarious.

I do miss the outdated designs, although. The Galaxy S6 Edge and S7 Edge made curved screens really feel like Samsung’s factor. I nonetheless haven’t seen flat glass recreate that feeling.

The urge for food hasn’t gone wherever, and neither has the resistance. Anybody who got here up via the S7 Edge would fortunately take curved glass again, whereas anybody who rode the S24 Extremely and S26 Extremely into flat territory would name it a step backward. Samsung can’t fulfill each teams. Apple may give it cowl to strive, and my guess is an Edge-branded cellphone is the place Samsung exams the water.

The complaints had been honest

Curved glass appeared gorgeous in advertising renders, however real-world physics ruined the celebration. Instances for telephones just like the Be aware 10+ and S22 Extremely needed to be lower low, leaving the susceptible aspect rails uncovered to drops (Pixel 6 Professional glass shattered even beneath costly UV-cured shields).

The unintended touches would drive me loopy. I play Name of Obligation on my iPhone, so I can already think about my palm triggering some random motion whereas I’m attempting to win a firefight.

Light curves already gained the argument

Take a look at which curved telephones individuals refuse to surrender. The Pixel 7 Professional nonetheless has a loyal following years later, regardless of a Tensor G2 chip that has aged badly. These homeowners aren’t hanging on for the processor. They’re hanging on for the way in which the cellphone feels within the palm.

The OnePlus 12 makes the identical case with an excellent smaller curve. It’s sufficiently subtle that glare and ghost touches cease being a problem, and swiping again off the sting picks up a nicer really feel than flat glass provides. The Magic6 Professional follows the identical rule, with a curve that stops properly in need of the total aspect. Samsung had it discovered as soon as with the Galaxy S9 and S20, whose slight two-or-three-millimeter roll let a case lip keep decrease, so faucets proper on the fringe of the display screen by no means hit plastic first. I’d name that essentially the most underrated argument for a curve, and it will get misplaced each time somebody brings up the waterfall.

Trendy Chinese language flagships have landed on a glance that appears flat and feels barely curved underneath your finger. That’s the template I’d count on Apple to shine, and it’s the one Android will copy.

Counterpoint’s numbers say the panels are prepared

Counterpoint Analysis’s newest show report, revealed November 9, is grim for the business general. OLED smartphone panel shipments ought to fall from 894 million items in 2025 to 829 million this 12 months, with the reminiscence scarcity squeezing everybody. Inflexible OLED drops 24%. Versatile OLED, the sort any curved cellphone wants, slips solely 3%.

I’m the foldable obsessive on our crew, so I observed the opposite determine first. Foldable and rollable panels are set to develop greater than 23% this 12 months. Plenty of the flexible-OLED ambition that used to enter curved edges has been feeding hinges as an alternative, and an iPhone curve offers panel makers like Samsung Show, LG Show and BOE another reason to maintain these strains busy.

Priority Analysis places the curved show system market at $13.00 billion in 2026, climbing to $43.96 billion by 2035. I wouldn’t lean on it, since TVs and screens carry most of that forecast and telephones get lumped in.

A 34-inch monitor makes the case in opposition to steep curves

Your desk may need the ultimate say on monitor measurement. A 2024 Utilized Ergonomics research examined 24-, 34-, and 40-inch shows and located that 75% of members didn’t have sufficient desk depth to accommodate the 40-inch mannequin’s stand. The additional head motion additionally wore individuals out, making the 34-inch show a extra snug selection.

A big display screen is the place the curve begins to make sense. Cellphone edges are straightforward to achieve together with your thumb, and a softer curve could make the glass really feel nicer to carry. I’d guess on that design coming again.

The place I’d put my cash

Apple ships a cellphone that appears curved subsequent 12 months, and inside a cycle Samsung places curved glass again on a flagship it could have saved flat. Waterfall screens keep useless. The brand new curves will probably be shallow, four-sided and sort to protectors, and Motorola will get to be smug about it. My one fear is the restore invoice. Apple’s involvement gained’t make a curved panel any cheaper to interchange, and the primary cracked iPhone 20 Professional bill will journey sooner than any keynote clip.

The happiest individuals would be the ones nonetheless nursing Pixel 7 Execs as a result of nothing newer feels proper within the hand.