Chinese smartphone maker Huawei today introduced the Nova 4, featuring what has become known as a "hole-punch" display.
The "hole-punch" design refers to the tiny hole for the 25-megapixel front camera, rather than the controversial notch, allowing for a nearly edge to edge display. Of course, this means the Nova 4 lacks the necessary sensors for 3D facial recognition and instead relies on a fingerprint scanner for authentication.
The display still has a thicker bottom bezel, known as a "chin," so this still isn't a completely full-screen design.
As noted by The Verge, the Nova 4 follows in the footsteps of Huawei's View 20 and Samsung's new Galaxy A8s as the latest smartphone with a "hole-punch" display. The Nova 4 also has a triple-lens rear camera setup, including a main 48-megapixel lens, a trend that some 2019 iPhones are expected to follow.
Galaxy A8s
There's a slim chance that Apple ever adopts the "hole-punch" design for iPhones due to the TrueDepth system for Face ID, unless it invents new ways to integrate all of the various sensors under the display. The more likely possibility is that the notch is here to stay for now, but gets slimmed down over time.
The Nova 4 is currently limited to China, priced around the equivalent of $490. Huawei will likely expand availability to select other regions soon, although its devices aren't available through any major carriers in the United States.
Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more.
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
Monday November 10, 2025 1:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display.
Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
Tuesday November 11, 2025 1:23 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items.
The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by Juli Clover
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information.
Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen.
Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting.
The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue.
Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season.
Note: MacRumors is...
Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store.
The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump.
...
This seems like the worst of both worlds; it's asymmetrical vertically and horizontally without the hardware to make 3D face scanning a security feature to rival Face ID.
And then there's the fact that it still has a chin.
But, look, if you're an iPhone owner hoping for a similar effect, I've got a DIY solution:
Or maybe just have a small bezel on the edge to hold all the camera gear. When did this become such a bad idea? Until the notch we were all fine with it.
But is it? That screen corner is totally useless for displaying anything, and unlike a notch it isn't symmetrical. Apple's notch is probably a bit big, but I prefer it to this. The OnePlus 6T notch looks far better than this hole punch fad, in my opinion.
Soon phone makers will start touting 'revolutionary smart sensor bars' at the top of phones, and we'll just be back where we started...
