According to the list published by the United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO), Apple has recently obtained a new patent No. US 20230168711 A1, which designs off-screen Face ID for iPhone and iPad.
The patent, titled “Electronic Devices with Under-Screen Cameras,” shows a technology patent that hides front-facing cameras, light sensors, and other components under the screen.
The relevant design sketches of the patent are as follows. Figure 2 shows the punch-hole design of the current iPhone; Figure 3 shows the future iPhone design, with the TrueDepth camera system hidden under the screen.
Components such as the front camera can be installed under the screen, and the light penetrates the surface of the screen through multiple apertures, reaches the front viewfinder, and finally conducts and generates pictures.
A functional block diagram of the device (#1200) including restoration optics #1220 for reducing image distortion caused by display #1210 is shown in Figure 12 below.
