In 2024, it was rumored that the iPhone 17 Pro would come with a highly scratch-resistant anti-reflective screen but the upgrade is no longer on the cards.
Since 2020’s iPhone 12, Apple’s smartphones have featured Ceramic Shield, a glass-ceramic material developed by the company in collaboration with Corning. This cover protects the screen of the iPhone from scratches and improves its drop resistance.
Last year, the oft-reliable leaker Instant Digital claimed that Apple was working on a new anti-reflective coating for the iPhone 17 Pro that was more scratch-resistant than the Ceramic Shield. There were no follow-up rumors, and now we know why.
MacRumors has learned from reliable sources that Apple is no longer planning to use the new coating for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Apparently, Apple encountered difficulties when trying to scale up output.
The process was reportedly too time-consuming, and applying the coating on millions of Pro models before their launch later this year might not have been possible.Customers who were planning on buying the iPhone 17 Pro are not going to like this leak, especially because the current iPhones don’t have anti-reflective properties. They do have a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating and when Apple announced the iPhone 16 Pro, it said the phone featured the latest-generation Ceramic Shield which was two times tougher than glass on any other phone.
The iPhone 16 Pro‘s coating doesn’t reduce glare and reflection though. Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra, on the other hand, features Gorilla Glass Armor 2, which is an anti-reflective glass ceramic cover. It significantly cuts down on reflections. This improves visual clarity and readability and ensures a decent viewing experience in all sorts of settings.
While this rumor is disappointing, Apple appears to have no choice. iPhone 17 Pro will bring many other changes to the table, including a new rear design, a higher-resolution telephoto camera, and a faster A19 Pro chip. All new iPhones will run iOS 19, which is rumored to be the biggest software update in a long time.
