Rumor has it that the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro will feature a pill-shaped cutout for the front cameras. While the device may be months away from launch, developer Jeffrey Grossman tweeted pictures of a mockup showing how the iPhone would look in hand.

Mocked up what a potential iPhone 14 Pro with a pill-shaped cutout might look like. pic.twitter.com/E3C1Bygd45

— Jeff Grossman (@Jeffrey903) January 9, 2022

Instead of having a bathtub notch like the iPhone 13 models, the iPhone 14 is expected to have a pill-shaped cutout. One can think of it like two center hole-punch cutouts placed side by side. It is much smaller in width and height than the bathtub notch and even allows the screen to touch the top bezel. If you want to see how the new design would look on your iPhone, lock your screen rotation and open the image in the tweet below. Then, hold your phone upside-down.

Here’s the screenshot I used (hold your phone upside-down to get the effect) pic.twitter.com/pPRjVerK5Y

— Jeff Grossman (@Jeffrey903) January 9, 2022

The design and placement of the cutout suggest that Apple would be able to use the screen real estate it gains on the left and right side by perhaps letting users view the battery percentage in the status bar.

However, the screen area between the top bezel and the pill-shaped cutout remains unusable for most practical purposes.

We agree that the design is polarizing. You would either love it or call it an ugly eyesore, but it does break the monotonous notch design being carried forward since the iPhone X. For Apple, the new design presents a challenge to integrate the TrueDepth camera and other sensors in a smaller footprint.

The pill-shaped cutout is expected to be a part of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models only, while the lower-end iPhones will feature the more prominent notch we see today. In 2023, Apple is expected to do away with the notch entirely and house the Face ID sensors and the front-facing camera under the display.

Do you think the pill-shaped cutout is an improvement or a regression? Tell us in the comments below!