The smaller iPhone 13 notch shows up again in another image leak

It's been another busy week for iPhone 13 rumors, and the latest leak around Apple's upcoming handset involves that smaller notch that we've been hearing a lot about. Now we've got new pictures purporting to show exactly how much smaller it's going to be.

Shared by @duanrui1205 on Twitter (via AppleInsider), the images show what looks like a film protector designed to go over the top of the 2021 iPhone, and a couple of shots of the iPhone 12 notch are included for comparison.

While speculation that the iPhone 13 is going to come with a shrunken notch at the top of the display isn't new, this gives us perhaps the best look yet at exactly how small it's going to be, and how much extra space will be saved on the phone's status bar.

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With the notch said to be going down to about two-thirds of its current size, there'll be more room for notification icons, battery information and so on up at the top of the screen – though as yet we haven't had any official confirmation of the design change.

The iconic iPhone display notch has been around since 2017 when it made its debut on the iPhone X. Since then it has barely changed at all, and it's still in place on the current iPhone 12 range that Apple unveiled in October 2020.

While the Face ID tech and the selfie camera aren't going anywhere, the iPhone earpiece is said to be moving up into the bezel of the device, meaning space can be saved underneath. We've now seen quite a few screen protectors showing off this more compact design for the iPhone 13.

None of this is certain for the time being, but there does seem to be a lot of momentum behind this particular rumor. Apple is also said to be working on ways of ditching the notch entirely, but that might have to wait until 2022.

Another rumor doing the rounds is that Touch ID is going to return with the iPhone 13, and will be fitted under the display. Previously this week we've also heard predictions about the chipset inside the iPhone 13, and a few potential display upgrades.

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