The iPhone 13's design is likely to change; Mac Otakara has spoken to sources in Apple's supply chain who report that the aesthetic differences between the iPhone 12 and its successor will not be significant.

The most significant of these tweaks is that Apple will reportedly slim down the TrueDepth sensor, which has caused all devices since the iPhone X to have a thick notch on top of the screen. It also appears to be moving the ear speaker to the edge of the display.

Mac Otakara reports no details, but we have previously heard that the speaker might go inside the bezel; as leaker Ice Universe pointed out in October, the notch could be shallower rather than completely gone.

Anecdotally, the notch has proven to be unpopular, but it has not damaged iPhone sales, and more importantly, it houses an important component that must be quite large to function. The dot projector, front full-color camera, infrared flood illuminator, and infrared camera combine to ensure that Face ID is fast and reliable.

Other changes can be seen in the design of the rear camera, which the site reports has increased by 0.9 mm on all models, with sapphire glass covering the lens. While this may be purely aesthetic, there is one interesting detail that may point to an upgrade for the top-of-the-line model: apparently, the rear camera on the iPhone 13 Pro will be the same size as the Pro Max model. This suggests parity between the models - something that was not the case last year, when the iPhone 12 Pro Max benefited from 2.5x optical zoom and better image stabilization.

Finally, the new iPhone 13 family will have slightly different dimensions. Not a drastic change, but enough to warrant that existing cases will not fit. Height and width appear to remain the same, but the iPhone 13 will be 0.26 mm thicker.

For those praying for an improvement in the iPhone 12's rather lackluster battery life, such a slight increase may sound discouraging - but Apple's use of new technology that allows a larger capacity battery to fit into a smaller form factor Keep in mind that they are reportedly planning to do so. In other words, a 0.26mm increase may be all the company needs.